13 October 2023
Baltimore Police on Friday announced the arrest of one teen and an arrest warrant for a second teen in connection with the Oct. 3 shooting on Morgan State University’s campus that wounded five young people.
A 17-year-old was arrested Thursday in Washington, D.C., “without incident” and will be charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, according to a police news release.
The second teen, Jovan Williams, who is 18, is wanted on a warrant accusing him of multiple counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. Police say he is considered “armed and dangerous,” and ask anyone who comes in contact with him to call 911.
Williams has been wanted by local and federal authorities in D.C., where he lives, since July. At that time, he was federally indicted in connection to what the Washington Metropolitan Police Department described as a “violent drug trafficking organization.”
In addition to drug dealing, the federal indictment accused Williams, also known by aliases “Chewy” and Choo,” of carrying an “AR-style .223 caliber pistol” equipped with a device that allowed the gun to shoot automatically, rather than one round for each trigger pull. The indictment said the privately manufactured gun, more commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” qualified as a machine gun under federal law.
Baltimore Police said last week they believed there were two shooters behind the incident. Officials said the shooting was thought to have stemmed from a dispute between two groups; authorities believe the five shooting victims were not the intended targets. Police asked the public for help identifying the suspects and released several images from surveillance footage.
“We will not rest until Williams is in custody,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said in a Friday’s news release. “While this arrest cannot undo the damage and trauma caused that day, it is my hope that it can bring some peace and justice to the victims, the Morgan community and our city.”
The Oct. 3 shooting disrupted the university’s annual homecoming week celebrations. Morgan State President David Wilson canceled the remaining events the day after the shooting, calling it the “very first time in Morgan’s history” such changes were made. He subsequently proposed building a $6.4 million “security barrier” to encircle the most of the Northeast Baltimore campus.
The shooting victims ranged in age from 18 to 22 and included four Morgan State students. All have been released from the hospital.
The shooting took place around 9:30 p.m. on the Tuesday of Morgan State University’s homecoming week, near Thurgood Marshall Hall. The building is one of six on-campus residential facilities and has a first-floor dining hall. That evening, the school held its homecoming court ritual, the coronation of Mister and Miss Morgan State.
Some students from the historically Black university, Maryland’s largest, described mass confusion the night of the shooting, and criticized the school’s campus alert system and security infrastructure.
In a letter written to students and faculty, Wilson said that neither of the two suspects are Morgan students or “have a connection” to the school.
He added that the investigation is ongoing and, if it reveals a student or staff member is involved, “there will be consequences.”
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates applauded the arrest in a statement following the police announcement Friday, adding that his prosecutors were “unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that justice is served for each and every individual affected by this heinous act.”
In his statement, Bates also suggested authorities implicating two teens from D.C. in the shooting marked a shift in narratives about violence in the neighboring cities. “In the past, D.C. would worry that Baltimore crime would somehow make its way down there,” Bates said, “but now it appears D.C. crime has actually come to Baltimore.”
“Our dedicated law enforcement teams have been working tirelessly, and today’s arrest is a testament to their dedication and professionalism,” he continued. “We will continue to pursue every lead, leaving no stone unturned, to bring all responsible parties to justice.”
Baltimore’s top prosecutor, who is in his first term in that post, urged those with information about the shooting at Morgan State to come forward.
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