Md. Man Charged In Vigilante
Shooting
BALTIMORE,
Md., July 29, 2002
A man was charged with a vigilante-style shooting after he opened fire on
three boys who were said to be selling drugs while sitting on his front steps.
It was Baltimore's second triple-shooting in two days involving young
people, police said.
Police said William Banks, 60, returned to his
Baltimore rowhome just before 1 p.m. Sunday to find the three boys, ages 11, 15
and 18, sitting on his front steps. Police Commissioner Edward Norris said
detectives were told the boys were selling drugs on the steps.
When
Banks asked them to move, the boys became irate, yelling insults, said police
spokeswoman Sheri Albrecht.
Banks went back inside his home, came out
with a .38-caliber handgun and started shooting, Albrecht said.
By late
Sunday, the 11-year-old had been released from Hopkins Hospital, and the other
two boys remained in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
“It's
just a bad situation. It certainly doesn't justify a citizen taking the law into
his own hands,” Norris said.
On Saturday, a neighborhood dispute ended
with the shooting of three people at a Baltimore playground.
©MMII
The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.