BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Fire Chief Niles Ford addressed allegations that the department did not have any units to respond to a quadruple shooting in Carroll Park over the weekend.
A 22-year-old man was killed and three others were injured in the shooting.
It happened in the 1500 block of Washington Boulevard, or Carroll Park, at about 8:11 p.m. Sunday night.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Ford said they received a call at 8:12 p.m. and they had two units sent out less than a minute after getting the call. At 8:24 p.m., he said two more units were requested.
He said units responded, rendered care and transported patients to area hospitals.
The messaging on the audio was “incorrect and inaccurate,” according to Ford, and not from their communications, the statement was made on the ground between units.
The Baltimore Firefighters Local 734 made the allegations that there were no units available to respond to the shooting in a tweet on Monday.
Rich Langford, who is the president of the union, stands by those claims, despite the chief saying it is not true.
“We never once questioned the department that there was a delay. We said that there were no units available. And the facts are there were no units available,” he said.
Landford said there were units made available eventually. But when the initial call came in, there were not.
He also is refuting Ford’s claims that the statement of no units available came from units on the ground.
“That statement came from communications responding to the officer of the engine company on scene that there was no units available at that time.”
Landlord said this is a problem that’s happened on multiple occasions, including yesterday when three people were shot on Greenmount Avenue.
The union president said the city’s EMS system is at a breaking point.
“We are letting it be known that this system is strained and something needs to be done.”
Langford also said the department is short more than 30 full-time medics.
WMAR-2 News reached out to the Baltimore Fire Department about Langford’s accusations, but we did not hear back.
