Police this morning arrested a man allegedly found with a handgun blocks away from where a University of Maryland School of Medicine employee was critically wounded in a shooting.
Baltimore police said officers responded to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s entrance at the 600 block of W. Redwood Street this morning and found a man, 24, had been shot in the face and buttocks. He’s now being treated for his wounds.
Dr. Thomas Scalea, physician-in-chief at University of Maryland Shock Trauma, said at a press conference outside the hospital that the victim is an employee at the School of Medicine downtown, calling him “a valuable member” of the school’s community.
Scalea said the man is “critically ill,” on life support and undergoing surgery for his wounds. In an update at around 1:15 p.m., University of Maryland-Baltimore Chief of Police Alice Cary wrote that the employee was still undergoing treatment.
“We are, of course, quite hopeful that everything will be OK, but it is way too early to tell that at this point,” Scalea told reporters this morning.
The shooting happened around 7:15 a.m., Lt. Col. Kevin Jones said. A suspect, 26-year-old Jamar Haughton, of Hollins Market, was found several blocks away and apprehended after police allegedly found him with a loaded handgun.
Haughton has been charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and several gun-related charges, police said in an update late Monday afternoon. He’s being held at Central Booking.
Cary wrote that it was a pair of UMB police officers who initially heard the gunshots–they had been responding to a fire alarm call just across the street at the time–and chased the suspect, who they’d seen running west toward Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. They caught up with him in the 800 block of Hollins Street, she said.
Cary confirmed that the suspect, later identified by police as Haughton, knew the victim, calling it a “targeted attack.”
The hospital was placed on lockdown, but it was lifted after the suspect had been arrested. Scalea stressed that the medical center was operating normally during the incident, and Jones said that “at no time was the general public at risk.”
The physician didn’t offer additional details on the shooting or the employee’s wounds or condition, but lamented: “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve done way too many of these things with you guys. This one is as close to home as it’s ever been.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Citywide Shooting Unit at 410-396-2221.
UMB’s Student Counseling Center is also open between 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (or after hours at 410-328-8404) to speak with affected students, and faculty and staff seeking someone to talk to can call the Employee Assistance Program at 667-214-1555 or after hours at 410-241-1488.
This story has been updated.
