(BALTIMORE – April 4, 2026) — A couple of days ago, a man was shot near Pennsylvania Avenue behind The Avenue Market. BMORENews was on the scene.
Initially, community reports suggested the man was unarmed. Based on that, we mislabeled some of the footage. We have since learned — and can confirm — that the man was, in fact, armed with both a gun and a knife. We correct that here.
Now let’s deal with the bigger issue.
Because while the caption was wrong, what unfolded — in the streets and in the comment section — was very real.
I read the comments. And what I saw was not just disagreement over facts. I saw division. I saw assumptions. I saw people — many of whom do not live here — take the opportunity to tear down an entire community.
Let me be clear about where I’m coming from.
I’ve lived on Carrollton Avenue since the early 90s. Zone 17 is not a ZIP code to me. It is home. And I love the people of 21217 — unconditionally, unapologetically, without footnote.
What I saw that day was not just anger. It was humanity.
I saw a Black woman, a Black man, and a Black trans lady step to the police with a boldness that made me extremely proud. Were they angry? Yes. Were they loud? Yes. Were they possibly defending someone who turned out to be in the wrong? Maybe. But they stood up anyway. They looked law enforcement in the eye and said: we are people too.
And I saw a young person in tears. Usually strong. That did something to me.
That’s Zone 17. That’s the community some of you feel so comfortable dismissing from behind a screen.
According to police, the man resisted arrest, was armed, and at one point grabbed an officer’s Taser before being shot. Witnesses question whether the level of force used was necessary.
Both truths can exist: a man can be armed, and a situation can still be mishandled.
That’s the real conversation.
But instead, too many people chose something else — cheap shots, stereotypes, and the same long-standing disrespect that gets aimed at poor Black communities every single time something like this happens.
We see you.
What you call chaos, we call lived experience. What you reduce to a headline, we live every day. You want to point fingers at Zone 17 while ignoring the generations of disinvestment, redlining, and mass incarceration that created the conditions you love to mock. That is not a moral position. That is cowardice with a keyboard.
And yes — we remember.
When Officer Suitor died, law enforcement treated this entire community like criminals. No apology. Not once. Freddie Gray — still no apology. BJ had issues, yes. That doesn’t erase the trauma.
West Baltimore has never been given the apology it is owed. And we don’t forget things like that.
Now, about the officers on the scene.
Some of the Black officers that day understood the assignment completely. They read the room. They knew how to move in this community. Those officers deserve to be acknowledged.
But a couple of those officers don’t need to be cops. Not here. Not anywhere. They came into West Baltimore playing cowboy, and the community immediately corrected them. Their fragile egos couldn’t handle it. They lacked the emotional intelligence to de-escalate, and it showed.
Here is what I know: law enforcement demands respect. So does this community. When that breaks down on either side, situations escalate. That is not an opinion. That is what happened on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Give respect. Get respect. That goes for everyone. No exceptions.
So no — I am not taking the video down.
Beyond the incorrect caption, it captured something real: the tension, the distrust, the history, and the humanity between a community and those sworn to protect it. If we are serious about moving forward, we have to confront that truth — not sanitize it.
I am proud of my neighbors. I am proud of the love I saw on Pennsylvania Avenue that day. Unconditional, unashamed, and unbothered by what anyone behind a screen has to say about it.
We are still here.
And we are not going anywhere.
Doni Glover is the founder and publisher of BMORENews.com, now in its 24th year of covering Black Baltimore. He is also the host of the Emmy-nominated Doni Glover podcast and The Doni Glover TV Show on WMAR-TV 2.
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