BALTIMORE -- “The words I would use are horrific. Heartbreaking,” said Erricka Bridgeford about Saturday’s deadly shooting of Khloe, a 12-year-old girl, during a youth football game. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said officers were called around 6:15 p.m. Saturday to Leon Day Park on North Franklintown Road. Worley said officers arrived and found a woman and the 12-year-old girl suffering from gunshot wounds. Worley said officers rendered aid and the victims were taken to taken to hospitals, where the girl died. “A 12-year-old little girl, who was probably down there watching football, was shot and killed,” Worley said. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and the community and our city. Our officers are following multiple leads, but we’re urging anyone who may have seen anything to call 911 or Metro Crime Stoppers.” “Two grown men got into an argument, and now a 12-year-old is gone,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “What happened out here today, is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my life because that baby was just out here, at homecoming for this youth football league is out here every single day, trying to keep young people safe, trying to keep young men and young women on the right path. The commissioner said two men also walked into hospitals, seeking treatment. All adult victims are believed to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Parents and coaches tell WBAL-TV 11 News it happened during a youth football game. “The potential of their baby being lost like that in an argument where people just did not know how to handle their conflict is really sad,” said Bridgeford. Bridgeford is the Founding Director of the Baltimore Peace Movement and the Executive Director of the Baltimore Community Mediation Center. Baltimore Police say it happened around 6:15 Saturday at the Leon Day Park. They believe two men were fighting over a parking space when they began shooting at each other. Police say three adults were shot and a fourth adult had a graze wound to the back. The incident hits close to home for Bridgeford. “This happened in neighbourhood where I grew up. My brothers played football there. My father and mother trained my brothers there. I spent time playing there,” said Bridgeford. In fact, it was an experience in that neighbourhood that motivated Bridgeford to get into conflict management. She has trained thousands through her work. “I got into it because in an argument one of my family friends in that neighbourhood shot one of my brothers,” said Bridgeford. “Getting into mediation and conflict management, it touched me because I’ve been going to funerals since I was 12 years old, losing my friends.” As the community begins to try to recover - Bridgeford says she’ll be getting to work in the neighbourhood. She hopes her work will encourage more people to walk away. “You are not a punk if you just walk away. You are not weak, and you are not a punk… You actually get to go home without guilt and pain and more trauma in your life,” said Bridgeford. Preliminarily, it’s believed there were two shooters who were arguing over a parking space before the gunfire erupted, Worley said. Investigators did not yet know how many gunshots were fired. “The dispute most likely occurred from a stupid parking spot, and they get into a fight, and the two cowards pull guns on each other, and the one fires multiple rounds down range and hits the little girl who most likely was down there by field,” Worley said. “Two grown men, or so-called men, got into an argument, and now this baby is gone, never going to see her full potential,” Scott said. Police closed North Franklintown Road at North Ellamont Street. Police provided update stating that an additional adult victim, 35-year-old woman, walked into an area hospital with a graze wound to the back. She is in stable condition. By Charlotte McAleer, Tori Yorgey, Greg Ng
