BALTIMORE — A Pennsylvania man is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly shooting two teenagers in Southeast Baltimore within a five-day span.
Baltimore Police officers arrested Donnell Thomas, 21, at a home in the McElderry Park neighborhood on Thursday, June 11.
On June 6, police responded to the 700 block of North Collington Avenue and found a 15-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound.
According to charging documents, the victim told police he was unsure of what happened, adding that the shooting occurred outside Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School on North Patterson Park Avenue.
The victim was taken to an area hospital and treated for injuries that were considered non-life-threatening.
Charging documents state that a witness came forward to police at the scene and told them they saw the victim standing outside the school when three males—whom they initially thought were juveniles—approached him aggressively from across the street.
An argument began between the victim and all three suspects, at which time a loud pop was heard.
The witness said they turned around and saw multiple people in the area disperse, adding they saw the suspects run east between the 2300 block of East Monument Street and McElderry Street.
Camera footage obtained by police corroborated the witness's account, with police also able to view the shooter, whom police later identified as Thomas, according to charging documents.
Thomas allegedly fired one shot from a handgun and struck the victim in his back, later fleeing the scene with the other two suspects who were wearing black hoodies, black pants, and multi-colored shoes.
Five days later, on June 11, officers were called to another shooting in the Southeast district, this time in the 2400 block of Jefferson Street.
There they found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen.
Police provided medical aid at the scene until medics arrived.
While caring for the victim, one of the officers conducted a preliminary interview with the victim, who told police he was standing in front of a church in the 500 block of North Milton Street with two friends when he heard what he believed to be a gunshot, according to charging documents.
After hearing the suspected shot, he and his friends began running from the area toward his home, at which time he felt something hot strike his body, not realizing he had been shot.
He told officers that due to the stress and confusion of the situation, he continued running until he got home.
Video footage from the scene showed the shooter came from an alley on the even side of North Milton Avenue with his hands in his pockets, facing northbound where the victim was standing.
The shooter is seen going into the alley and coming back out in a shooting stance with both hands, later firing nine times before fleeing the area on foot through the alleyway.
Charging documents state that additional CCTV footage showed the shooter entering a home on North Port Street.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the home and found the hoodie that matched what the shooter wore in the camera footage in a bag on the kitchen floor. An additional search led police to find another hoodie that matched the description from the shooting on June 6.
Police found Thomas and another male inside the home and placed them under arrest.
During an interview, police showed Thomas multiple photographs obtained from CCTV footage from the shooting on June 6. He identified himself as the suspect in the photograph, according to charging documents.
Thomas, however, denied he was the shooter in the incident on June 11, but officers spoke to another individual who was shown the same two photographs and said they depicted the same person.
The person said Thomas was wearing the hoodie, which had a white logo and writing, around the time of the shooting.
Additional clothing evidence was found after police obtained an additional search warrant, placing Thomas at the scene.
Thomas is currently being held at Central Booking, where he was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder.
He is being held without bail.
