A year after the Brooklyn mass shooting in South Baltimore, changes but no closure

Rashon Shelborne just gained back the 17 pounds he lost after his younger sister, Gonzalez, was killed last year. The 21-year-old moved from New Jersey to Maryland to support his grieving family. He described his life split into two pieces: the before and the after.

As Aaliyah’s brother, he wants her shooter caught. But “it’s just not realistic.”

“Nothing would make me any happier than them finding Aaliyah’s shooter, believe me,” he said. “That’s when I would get peace of mind. Until then, it’s going to be hard to find peace of mind.”

His mother, Krystal Gonzalez, can’t focus on the investigation or the plea deals.

“No matter what happens, it will never be justice for me. Aaliyah will never return. Nothing will ever change that,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve got to figure out a better way to live, which is focusing on honoring Aaliyah’s life and legacy, focusing on changing the culture — that’s it. Focusing on changing the laws that are in place — that’s it. Everything else? It doesn’t move me, because it will never be justice for me.”

Aaliyah’s family will host a celebration Tuesday in her honor in Sawmill Creek Park in Glen Burnie. Gonzalez said the festival will include basketball tournaments, performances, food trucks and ice cream.

Brown, the defense attorney, said closure for community members and victims may have to come from re-imagining who is culpable. He cited police officers’ indifference in responding to Brooklyn Homes as they received reports of a rapidly growing crowd, including armed people.

“These two people who lost their lives, that was a result of the ineptitude of the police department, because if they had been out there, I doubt seriously the mayhem would’ve ensued,” Brown said. “We’re searching for the actual shooters, but an inordinate amount of attention and blame ought to be laid at the police department.”

The families of Gonzalez and Fagbemi intend to sue the city for its mismanagement of the Brooklyn Day party. For Gonzalez, Baltimore failed in managing resources for police and in hiring enough officers.

She also said penalties for violent crimes should be stricter.

“We are in the same place today that we were July 2, 2023,” she said. “Nothing has changed.”

Officer indifference

Police department brass said at a June 5 City Council hearing that an internal investigation into actions leading up to and during Brooklyn Day was complete and with a civilian committee that reviews cases and issues disciplinary findings. The department plans to publicly release the results.

The officials had less definitive answers when pressed by Democratic Councilwoman Odette Ramos on how they’ve changed training or policies since an internal after-action report last year found “officer indifference” contributed to the mishandling of Brooklyn Day.

Commissioner Richard Worley expressed doubt the department could rid the force “100%” of indifference, saying it might be impossible for some people.

“Then they shouldn’t be police officers,” Ramos replied.

In an interview, Ramos said she is concerned the department does not have a process to root out indifference as it does for bias — which she fears could result in officers dodging accountability.

“If they’re going to use the word indifference, figuring out how to address indifference has to be a priority, and I don’t think that they’ve done that,” she said.

The department has taken steps in the past year to prioritize community policing. Worley created a Community Policing Section and issued a memo in April restating that all officers are community policing officers, not just the “neighborhood coordination officers.” His team also hopes to carve out more time for NCOs to focus on problem-oriented policing goals and diversify who attends community meetings.

The agency underwent an already-scheduled redistricting shortly after Brooklyn Day to more evenly divide workloads across police posts. The after-action report identified that the post that included Brooklyn Homes was among the busiest in the city and left one officer responsible for a “significantly higher volume of workload.” The neighborhood is now within three post areas, allowing officers to bolster engagement with the community, the department said, adding that it has seen a 36% decrease there in violent crime this year.

Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said in a statement that the department’s equity office is assisting in training to address “officer indifference and bias.”

“The department is committed to ensure officers protect and serve all communities of Baltimore with equity and respect and uphold the mission of the department,” Eldridge said.

‘A long path’

Lisa Rivers remembers the Ku Klux Klan burning crosses in 1967 outside her home when her family was the first Black one to move into the Brooklyn Homes complex.

She’s since moved, but her daughter, Shervawn Boone, lives in the complex where she was raised. Not for long, she hopes. Since her 16-year-old son, Cormar Askins, was killed earlier this year in Cherry Hill, she has been looking for a house.

“Once I buy that house, I won’t be in nobody’s projects,” Boone said. “I would never step foot back in Brooklyn. Not for any reason.”

William Haines, too, decided to leave Brooklyn for good. Haines moved to Cherry Hill Homes, another public housing complex, in February.

“It was fine and dandy after the shooting for like a week, but after that I couldn’t do it,” Haines said. He said security guards did little to curb drug dealing and he had issues with the rental office. “I just had to get the hell out.”

Residents have processed the shooting differently, according to Michelle Rich, who works with the community organization Greater Baybrook Alliance and has organized a food distribution within Brooklyn Homes. Some are traumatized, while for others, “it was just another day,” Rich said.

Not all residents trust those who offer help: “They’ve been hurt a lot,” she said. “There’s so much they deserve and need.”

In the aftermath of the mass shooting, Brooklyn residents cried out for resources and described themselves as forgotten by elected officials.

Democratic City Councilwoman Phylicia Porter, who represents the area, said 60 Brooklyn stakeholders, faith leaders, community organizations and residents developed a “community vision” and she pointed to a new grocery store at Hanover and Potee streets as an example of it coming to fruition.

“The pain of what happened last year with that tragedy is still raw for many of the families living in Brooklyn, but I am optimistic for it,” Porter said.

Mark Mason, victim services associate director for the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, has helped lead stabilization efforts in the wake of the mass shooting. That’s meant stakeholder meetings and responding to resident concerns, such as creating resource fairs and establishing lunch groups for affected students.

The former teacher and administrator at nearby Baybrook Elementary and Middle School said healing would be a “long path.” But he’s seen greater community confidence in city government and more collaboration coming out of the tragedy.

“What that community has experienced, it’s not something that, honestly, is going to go away even after a year,” Mason said.

He worked with residents and community organizations on a Brooklyn Healing and Wellness Event for Tuesday.

Others plan to mark the milestone in different ways.

Tonya Williams, Fagbemi’s neighbor, said she plans to set up photos, candles and balloons outside the Gretna Court apartment where Fagbemi lived with his mother.

Wicks, the shooting victim, plans to place something to honor Gonzalez at the tree planted in her memory. The hackberry in June was dry and nearly branchless, but it stood upright, a tuft of green leaves near the top.