A three-year-old boy was among seven people shot when gunfire erupted on a Baltimore street on Wednesday night.
Police scrambled to rush the wounded toddler to hospital in the back of a patrol car.
The terrifying burst of violence unfolded at around 9pm in central Baltimore, where police say a group of people suddenly opened fire.
An officer in the area heard the barrage of gunshots and raced toward the scene, where the three-year-old was discovered among multiple shooting victims.
With no time to lose, officers placed the wounded child into a police cruiser and sped him to a nearby hospital rather than waiting for an ambulance.
The toddler was taken into surgery following the shooting, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said.
A three-year-old boy was among seven people shot when gunfire erupted on a Baltimore street on Wednesday night
Police flooded East Fayette Street in central Baltimore after seven people, including a three-year-old boy, were wounded in a shooting Wednesday night
Several Baltimore Police vehicles descended on the scene after an officer heard gunfire and discovered several victims
Worley said police believe multiple people were responsible for opening fire, but authorities had not yet determined exactly how many shooters were involved.
Investigators were preparing to scour surveillance footage from the surrounding area in an effort to identify those responsible and reconstruct the moments leading up to the attack.
Worley condemned the gunmen as ‘cowards’ following the shooting.
Despite the severity of the attack, authorities said the injuries suffered by all seven victims were considered non-life-threatening.
Five of the other six victims were treated by medics at the scene before being transported to a local hospital.
Officers sealed off streets surrounding the shooting scene as investigators began searching for evidence and surveillance footage that could identify the gunmen
Police tape stretched across the neighborhood as authorities established a large crime scene following the shooting of seven people
Baltimore officers combed East Fayette Street after the gunfire, with Police Commissioner Richard Worley branding those responsible ‘cowards’
Another victim managed to make their own way to hospital following the shooting.
Police have not released the ages or identities of the six other people wounded.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also appealed directly to those responsible, urging them to turn themselves in as police launched a hunt for the shooters.
No arrests had been announced in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
