A shooting and hostage situation that unfolded near several synagogues and schools in heavily Jewish suburban Baltimore did not target Jewish people or institutions, according to Secure Community Network, the security arm of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
“The shooting was domestic in nature,” the network said. “There are no indications that the Jewish community was the target, and there is no known active threat to the community.”
The Baltimore Police Department stated around 12:35 p.m. on Tuesday that it was on the scene of an active shooting on the 6200 block of Park Heights Avenue, where an officer was shot and sent to Shock Trauma for treatment. The suspect was shot.
The location is mere steps from several Orthodox institutions, including the Orthodox congregations Agudath Israel of Baltimore and Tiferes Yisroel and the Jewish girls’ high school Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore, and within blocks of more than half a dozen synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
The Baltimore Police Department told JNS that “this incident occurred at a residence” and that neither Agudah nor Tiferes Yisroel “were involved or targeted as part of the incident.”
JNS asked Agudah about the shooting and whether the local Jewish community feels safe. “We have a great synagogue, and we are actually in the process of building a beautiful new shul that will greatly enhance the neighborhood,” Yehuda Nelkin, the shul president, said.
At the press conference, Richard Worley, commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, said that officers were called to a burglary just before noon.
“When officers arrived, they were immediately met with gunfire from the suspect firing from inside the house,” he told reporters.
A 36-year-old officer, with 13 years of experience at the department, was shot in the leg and hospitalized, as was a female victim, who had jumped from a window to flee the scene, according to Worley.
Even after the victim fled through the window, the suspect still had a hostage, the commissioner said. SWAT officers responded, and a sniper neutralized the suspect, he added.
Brandon Scott, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, said he was “thankful that the officer and any other folks in that neighborhood were not severely harmed.”
“Our thoughts are with him and his family, and even the family of the deceased,” he added, apparently referring to the suspected shooter.
In January, Scott hailed what he said were “historic reductions” in violence in Baltimore in 2025. He said that his approach to crime “treats violence as a public health issue and recognizes that constitutional law enforcement and community-centered intervention both serve a critical role in reducing crime.”
