BALTIMORE -- Police continued to investigate Monday after as many as 19 people were shot, two of them fatally, in five incidents in east Baltimore Sunday night.
Police said most of the shootings were connected.
Detectives are searching for a gunman who opened fire at a backyard cookout, wounding 12 people, police department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld said the shooting was part of an ongoing feud between rival gangs of drug dealers.
"This really is a slap in the face for this community who has been working hard through "Safe Streets" and other efforts," Mayor Sheila Dixon said Monday morning.
None of the dozen victims suffered life-threatening injuries. The victims were hit in the legs, arms, shoulders and backs, and the wounded included a 2-year-old girl and a pregnant 23-year-old woman, police said.
The pregnant woman was shot in the leg, Moses said.
Officials told 11 News that one of the victims at the barbeque works for the Safe Streets program, which is intended to quell violence through mediation of disputes.
Detectives were interviewing witnesses and working to develop a description of the gunman. The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m.
"There was a cookout, or gathering, going on in one of the backyards in the 2600 block of Ashlund Avenue," Moses said. "Someone walked into the alley and basically opened fire."
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that one of the victims at the cookout shooting was Steven Blackwell, 25, whose younger brothers were abducted in April 2008 in what police said was part of a feud between rival drug organizations
Blackwell is also associated with a double murder last July. Police said they believe the backyard barbeque may have served to mark that anniversary.
Two 19-year-old men were shot and killed in an incident less than a mile away, in the 200 block of North Conkling Street, Guglielmi said. The victims were identified as Gary Martin and Darien Jones. Police had no immediate suspects.
A third shooting incident left two men with non-life-threatening injuries, Guglielmi said. That occurred on Fairmount Street.
Several hours after the barbeque shooting, a running gun battle between two vehicles at Baltimore and Bond streets near Johns Hopkins Hospital left a 23-year-old man critically wounded. He was a passenger in one the cars.
Investigators said they believe that shooting was related to the barbeque shooting.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III was on the scene of both the cookout shooting and the double homicide, Guglielmi said. The incidents highlight the need to rid Baltimore's streets of illegal guns, the spokesman said.
Bealefeld and the mayor held a news conference Monday to appeal for witnesses to step forward and communities to take a stand.
"We can only do so much without help from the community and others," Guglielmi said. "We can put a police car in every driveway, but unless people step up, we can only get so far."
"I don't want to hear from the media about the whole DVD Stop Snitching thing. That's crap. You have innocent people. This could have been worse. It's important for people in that community to come forth," Dixon said.
Police are deploying extra detectives and foot patrol officers in east Baltimore as a result of the violence.
