Baltimore Police investigators have pictures of a person of interest in the fatal stabbing of a man after the July 4 fireworks display in the Inner Harbor and suspect a 4-year-old boy had been shot by a stray bullet, a spokesman said Tuesday morning.
Investigators have identified the 26-year-old victim, but his name has not been released because he was from Alabama and notification of relatives was taking longer than normal, said the spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.
No arrests have been made, but investigators "have been making damn good progress," he said. Tourists may have captured images of the perpetrator, Guglielmi said. Police plan to release a photo as soon as possible, he said.
The victim had been stabbed in the neck at about 10 p.m. after a confrontation with a group outside McCormick & Schmick's Restaurant in the 700 block of Eastern Ave., near the Pier SixPavilion, the spokesman had said Monday night.
The victim was pronounced dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center just before midnight.
Investigators also suspect that the 4-year-old who was shot at about 10 p.m. while standing with his parents at Light and Pratt streets was struck by a stray bullet, perhaps shot in the air, Guglielmi said.
The small-caliber bullet passed through the boy's leg, near the groin, but didn't have much velocity, he said. No shell casing was found in the area, but it could have come from a revolver that does not leave a casing, he said.
"It is possible that the bullet came from elsewhere," he said. "That makes our job a lot more difficult."
The child was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital last night with injuries not considered life-threatening and was in stable condition, Guglielmi said.
City police as well as state police troopers canvassed the area immediately after the incident and reviewed Citiwatch cameras but did not see signs of a gun fired nearby, the spokesman said.
"If there's a gun shot in a crowd, you're going to see a reaction," Guglielmi said. "You're going to see running, you're going to see screaming."
Police also arrested a number of juveniles for curfew violations and weapons Monday night after groups failed to disperse after the fireworks display. Police planned to release the number of arrests and other details at a press conference Tuesday morning.
"Getting kids out of downtown was cumbersome for us," Guglielmi said. Police did not chase groups that ran through the harbor, because they were posing no threat to themselves or others. However, when curfew went into effect at 11 p.m., officers — including the commissioner and his deputy commissioner — made arrests after giving warnings, Guglielmi said.
Last year, Baltimore Police stepped up enforcement during Independence Day fireworks after a late-June shooting in the Inner Harbor. About a week before the 2010 fireworks, one member of a group of teens opened fire on another gathering of youths on a walkway near the World Trade Center, sending one man to the hospital.
Earlier this year, a teen was stabbed at Gay and Fayette streets the day after Easter when at least 100 teenagers roamed the streets near the Inner Harbor for more than two hours as police used megaphones to order them to leave.
Violence was more frequent in the harbor during the spring and summer of 2009, including a string of random assaults by juveniles, a double stabbing in April and a double shooting in August.
Celebratory gunfire during holidays has also been a concern for the past two decades. During a crackdown in 2000 around New Year's, police seized 122 guns in a 12 hour period. In 2001, a 19-year-old girl was hospitalized after a stray bullet lodged in her forehead from celebratory gunfire during Inner Harbor fireworks after New Year's Eve. In 1992 during Fourth of July celebrations, a 50-year-old man was fatally shot while he watched the fireworks from a rooftop on East Baltimore Street.
Baltimore is not alone in violence at Independence Day celebrations. According to news reports, a man was stabbed in Philadelphia last night near City Hall.
Investigators have identified the 26-year-old victim, but his name has not been released because he was from Alabama and notification of relatives was taking longer than normal, said the spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.
The victim had been stabbed in the neck at about 10 p.m. after a confrontation with a group outside McCormick & Schmick's Restaurant in the 700 block of Eastern Ave., near the Pier SixPavilion, the spokesman had said Monday night.
The victim was pronounced dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center just before midnight.
Investigators also suspect that the 4-year-old who was shot at about 10 p.m. while standing with his parents at Light and Pratt streets was struck by a stray bullet, perhaps shot in the air, Guglielmi said.
The small-caliber bullet passed through the boy's leg, near the groin, but didn't have much velocity, he said. No shell casing was found in the area, but it could have come from a revolver that does not leave a casing, he said.
"It is possible that the bullet came from elsewhere," he said. "That makes our job a lot more difficult."
The child was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital last night with injuries not considered life-threatening and was in stable condition, Guglielmi said.
City police as well as state police troopers canvassed the area immediately after the incident and reviewed Citiwatch cameras but did not see signs of a gun fired nearby, the spokesman said.
"If there's a gun shot in a crowd, you're going to see a reaction," Guglielmi said. "You're going to see running, you're going to see screaming."
Police also arrested a number of juveniles for curfew violations and weapons Monday night after groups failed to disperse after the fireworks display. Police planned to release the number of arrests and other details at a press conference Tuesday morning.
"Getting kids out of downtown was cumbersome for us," Guglielmi said. Police did not chase groups that ran through the harbor, because they were posing no threat to themselves or others. However, when curfew went into effect at 11 p.m., officers — including the commissioner and his deputy commissioner — made arrests after giving warnings, Guglielmi said.
Last year, Baltimore Police stepped up enforcement during Independence Day fireworks after a late-June shooting in the Inner Harbor. About a week before the 2010 fireworks, one member of a group of teens opened fire on another gathering of youths on a walkway near the World Trade Center, sending one man to the hospital.
Earlier this year, a teen was stabbed at Gay and Fayette streets the day after Easter when at least 100 teenagers roamed the streets near the Inner Harbor for more than two hours as police used megaphones to order them to leave.
Violence was more frequent in the harbor during the spring and summer of 2009, including a string of random assaults by juveniles, a double stabbing in April and a double shooting in August.
Celebratory gunfire during holidays has also been a concern for the past two decades. During a crackdown in 2000 around New Year's, police seized 122 guns in a 12 hour period. In 2001, a 19-year-old girl was hospitalized after a stray bullet lodged in her forehead from celebratory gunfire during Inner Harbor fireworks after New Year's Eve. In 1992 during Fourth of July celebrations, a 50-year-old man was fatally shot while he watched the fireworks from a rooftop on East Baltimore Street.
Baltimore is not alone in violence at Independence Day celebrations. According to news reports, a man was stabbed in Philadelphia last night near City Hall.
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