Baltimore police are investigating after a man shot a customer inside a popular North Baltimore coffee shop on Friday, seriously wounding him.
Baltimore Police say the suspect, who was dressed in dark clothing and a hat and who might have been wearing a mask, came to the door of Red Emma’s, a coffee shop in the Station North neighborhood, at 11:20 a.m. and called for the victim.
The victim and the suspect got into a dispute, police said, and the suspect shot the customer in the upper body before fleeing. Police spokesman Lt. Jarron Jackson said the victim was taken to an area hospital, where he is in grave condition.
Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting because of the seriousness of the victim’s injuries.
"We believe the suspect and the victim had some sort of relationship with each other," Jackson said.
A 67-year-old man, who declined to be identified because a suspect remains on the loose, said he got off a bus on North Avenue and walked near the coffee shop before the shooting and heard two men arguing. He said he heard loud shouting and someone mentioning that they had a knife. One of the men said he would return.
The witness did not look at the men, saying he knows to mind his "own business," and continued to walk to an appointment nearby. When he was finished several minutes later, he saw crime tape surrounding the coffee shop.
Claudette Ferguson had just finished her appointment at a nearby program when she was headed to Red Emma’s for coffee and a doughnut; she was stopped and told about the shooting. She said she believes the victim is a regular at the coffee shop, who drinks coffee, eats pastries and reads at Red Emma’s on a daily basis.
Ferguson said she believed the victim was in his 30s but did not know his name.
On Friday, detectives and officers went in and out of the coffee shop, which sits at the corner of North and Maryland avenues, as traffic passed slowly by. A customer or employee who had been inside the coffee shop looked shaken as an officer put him in a squad car and took him to the homicide unit for an interview with detectives.
Crime tape surrounded the front of the coffee shop for hours as people tried to peer into the large windows of Red Emma’s. One was painted with the words "REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS WELCOME."
The coffee shop, which is also a restaurant, bookstore and community space, is a frequent meeting place for civic groups and activists.
At about 1 p.m., the Red Emma’s Twitter account tweeted that an event scheduled later at the coffee shop had been moved.
"Tonight’s event ‘Young, Angry, and Black with Valencia Clay & Guests’ will be at 7:30pm at 2640 St. Paul St.," the message said.
The nearby Maryland Institute College of Art and Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus sent out an email alert to students and faculty about the shooting. It quoted preliminary reports from police that indicated that "the suspect fled North on Charles Street."
"Baltimore Police Department officers described the suspect as a black male, wearing a black coat, black pants, and Gray New Balance sneakers," the alerts said. "Police believe the person has since left the area and that there is no immediate danger to our community. This incident did not involve anyone from the MICA community."
In early December, the coffee shop was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash at gunpoint. No employees or customers were injured during the hold up.
As of Thursday, 35 people had been killed in Baltimore this year, a bloody start to the year that prompted Mayor Catherine E. Pugh to hold a community meeting Thursday at City Hall that she dubbed a "call to action" to find solutions to the city’s violence.
jgeorge@baltsun.com
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