Intense shootout caught on Baltimore police bodycam
Officers responding to convenience store robbery caught in gun battle.
A group of police officers who responded to a robbery at a 7-Eleven in downtown Baltimore early Tuesday ended up in the middle of an intense gun battle captured on body cameras and surveillance video.
The officers arrived at the scene at about 1:30 a.m. after a Citiwatch camera operator spotted a robbery in progress and called the Baltimore Police Department.
When one of the officers opened the front door to enter the store, one of the suspects opened fire. In a tense moment caught on camera, police scrambled to defend themselves from a barrage of gunfire.
The moment a suspect points a weapon at a Baltimore Police Officer responding to a robbery at a 7-Eleven. (Baltimore Police Department)
"Two bad guys didn’t give a crap who they were going to shoot, they didn't care," Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said at a news conference, describing the shootout as "absolutely disturbing."
Officers returned fire and the suspects fled the scene as they continued shooting at officers. There were more than 60 evidence markers at the scene, according to FOX45 Baltimore.
Smith said the shootout "happened quick."
"This is not Hollywood, we didn't get to go in and say ‘time out guys, let's reposition where we are going to take cover,’" he said. "They did not give a crap who they were going to fire at."
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Neither the two clerks inside the 7-Eleven nor the officers who arrived at the scene were injured in the shootout, which Smith described as an "absolute blessing." It’s unclear if the suspects were injured.
A suspect points a weapon at Baltimore Police Officers responding to a robbery. (Baltimore Police Department)
The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a $24,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two suspects. They took less than $100 in the robbery, according to police.
The first suspect is described as a tall black male who was wearing a mask, dark coat and was armed, according to FOX45. The second suspect, who was also armed, is a shorter black male wearing all black clothing with a white scarf tied around his face.
Jessica McPeters, who lives above the 7-Eleven, told the Baltimore Sun the robbery was “disappointing," and that the store has previously been targeted by criminals. In one instance, she said, she was shoved by a group of people rushing out of the store after stealing cigarettes.
“We want to move now, honestly. We thought this was a decent area, which it is. I don’t feel unsafe,” she told the newspaper. “But we won’t go to the 7-Eleven at night anymore, which is unfortunate.”
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