Attack in Federal Hill

We have heard a lot about the murder numbers being way down this year.  There have been whispers about a political/media cover-up when it comes to violent attacks.  Below is a copy of an email that has been circulating over the last 24 hours.   Names and contact information have been removed to protect the victims.  I am posting this here because numerous people have inquired as to why this story has not been mentioned by any media outlet yet.

"My family and I were brutally attacked at approximately 1:30 am Sunday morning, May 18th 2008 in Federal Hill. The police have asked that we reach out to anyone and everyone we know to see if anyone saw or heard anything so that we can try to catch these people. Please pass along my story to all you know that might have been in the area.

My brother blank, cousin blank and I were walking south on Light street . A dark colored sedan struck a city bus at the intersection of West and Light. Everyone on the street at the time was yelling at the driver to stop because she was attempting to flee the accident.

We crossed the street and headed toward the intersection of William and West to blank's girlfriend blank's house in the Street . We saw that there was an unrelated fight occurring at the intersection of William and West so we were discussing that perhaps we should just go to my house instead of blank's house so that we didn't get in the middle of it.

By the time we got to blank's house, the driver who had struck the bus had turned down West Street and was attempting to get away. Because there was a fight blocking the street, she could not so she reversed toward Light Street .

At that time blank yelled at her to stop since she has struck the bus. A female passenger got out of the dark sedan and rushed at us. We were banging on blank's door to try and get someone to let us in, but before we could get in, the girl grabbed me by the pony tail and threw me to the ground. At that time others joined in and all were kicking, punching and stomping on me. and were frantically trying to get the girl and others who had joined in to stop, but the girl still had me by the hair and was smashing my face into the sidewalk and kicking me even more. I fortunately had my purse in between the sidewalk and my face, or I would have lost all my teeth/probably bashed my face in.

In the mean time, blank's roommates/friends came out of the house to try to help and several of them were also thrown to the ground and injured. Once everything cleared, we stumbled into the house to discover blank, blank, and an innocent bystander (who had been sleeping and came out to see what was going on) had all been stabbed. blank's was just a superficial wound, but they got blank in between 2 ribs in the liver. He is set to be released from the hospital today. The other boy who came out to help has a collapsed lung from being stabbed and was also stabbed in the head. He is going to be at Shock Trauma for at least 4 more days. I have a bloody ear, elbows, knees and multiple bruises through out my body. I had actual foot prints on my back from where they were kicking me. Everything hurts, a lot.

I have considered myself a proud homeowner in Federal Hill for over three years. I can't imagine a happier way to have spent my 20's. I refuse to let these needless acts of violence scare me out of my home, or the neighborhood I have come to love so much. This was not an attempted robbery, but instead a blatant act of unprovoked brutal violence.

If you or anyone you know saw or heard ANYTHING, please email me at blank. My blackberry was stolen in the scuffle, so please don't call my cell as I don't have a new one yet. You can also contact Detective Bailey in the Southern District at 410.396.2504 who is handling the case."