A Baltimore grandmother told WJZ she is devastated after a 38-year-old man was killed in a mass shooting in the Park Heights neighborhood on Saturday, August 9.
Jerome Michael Coateson died, and five more people were injured, including a 5-year-old girl.
Ronie Redmond describes her grandson, Coateson, as soft-spoken and a hard-working family man, who was a great father to his children.
"Everybody loved him," Redmond said. "When I went to the hospital, all his family was outside, and there was a crowd out there, and everyone was weeping. That was the kind of person he was; everybody loved him. He never got into anything. So when everybody heard, they said, 'No, not Jerome. No, not Jerome. Somebody else.' Shocked, shocked, shocked."
Redmond said she last saw Coateson hours before the shooting on Saturday, when he came over with the children. She said she raised him since he was 6 years old.
Baltimore police responded around 8:45 p.m. to the area of Spaulding and Queensbury avenues, where six gunshot victims were located.
Police Commissioner Richard Worley said four men, a woman, and a young child were among the victims.
A group of people were sitting outside on their porch and up against a car, eating, when someone started shooting, Worley said.
Police said the 5-year-old was shot in the hand and is expected to recover. Jerome Michael Coateson, 38, was found in critical condition and was pronounced dead Sunday morning.
The other shooting victims, a 23-year-old woman, a 32-year-old man, a 33-year-old man, and a 52-year-old man, are expected to survive.
It is not clear if Coateson was the intended target.
No arrests have been made.
Police are asking anyone with information to please come forward by calling them at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
An $8,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
On Monday, August 11, several Baltimore organizations walked the Park Heights neighborhood to check on the residents and hand out resources.
The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement (MONSE), We Our Us, and Safe Streets were among the groups that walked from Park Heights Avenue to the intersection of Queensberry and Spaulding avenues.
"We cannot tolerate people getting killed in our city. We cannot tolerate children being hurt in our city," said Brandon Wilson, who works with We Our Us. "We have to go to them where they at in their space, let them know we have jobs, we have substance abuse treatment. You don't have to stand on the corner and sell drugs or die. That's just not the way of life. So, we just offer them hope."