Police chief: Gang members who shot kids are ‘cowards’

“One guy in that car fired that gun,” Bealefeld said at a Tuesday news conference  where he offered gang members a deal. “But right now, they’re all culpable for the actions of that guy who fired that gun. They have a real opportunity here to save themselves.”

The two “innocent young children” — Steven Cole Jr., 2, and Talayha Mable, 3 — remained in serious but stable condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds Monday night in front of the Warwick Arms apartment complex in the 2400 block of Winchester Street, Bealefeld said.

Cole was shot in the upper torso; Mable, in the lower right leg.

Detectives were looking for a dark-colored vehicle, possibly a Cadillac or Infiniti, from which the shots were fired.

“The young men inside that vehicle exchanged some gang signs to other young men standing outside, nearby the children,” Bealefeld said. “The car sped off and has eluded our capture to this point. ... We recognize that there are Bloods members that live there. We recognize that there are Crips members that live there.”

Bealefeld said it disturbed him that the shooting occurred near a sports field. “Across the street from where this happened, young men play baseball and families go and root their kids on at James Mosher Little League,” he said. 

The gunfire erupted as the children dried off in front of an apartment building after sitting in an inflatable pool to escape the sweltering summer heat, neighbors said.

“They were cooling off in the pool,” said Tracey Williams, a resident of the apartment complex. “Our children have to be outside because it’s too hot in the apartments, and we don’t have any air-conditioning.”

Police ask anyone with information to call detectives at 443-984-7076.

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