(Photo: Pelican)
Ivan Bates, the Baltimore State’s Attorney, expressed his shock at the accusations during a news conference on Tuesday and emphasized the significance of parents in dealing with and putting an end to these violent behaviors. He said, “As a parent, it is absolutely mind-blowing to read the allegations in this indictment, where a child’s guardians facilitate settling a schoolyard dispute with violence.”
According to the indictment, Dredden and Harrison drove their son to high school, where he reportedly hit a classmate with a gun and his hands before class started. As the three left the scene of the crime, the fight got worse, and shots were fired, hitting three teens and wounding the 15-year-old offender. Most of what happened was caught on surveillance cameras.
Dredden and Harrison are being charged with more than a dozen crimes, such as attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and improperly carrying a handgun. The 15-year-old suspect, who was charged in adult court, has not been named because he is a child.
When Bates spoke to the reporters, he said that the parents’ claimed involvement in the violence should get more attention. Reports say that surveillance video shows them getting back into their SUV after the killing, driving back to Harrison’s house, and doing things that make it look like they had something to do with it.
The crime adds to a worrying trend of youth violence in Baltimore. There have been several cases of public school students being shot or involved in violent situations near school grounds. Even though there has been less gun crime in the city overall in the past few months, the rise in cases involving teens and young adults has become a major problem.
