Armed Citizen Fights Back in Deadly Baltimore Attack as Maryland Gun Laws Fail Again
On October 3rd, 2026, there was a homecoming celebration at Leon Day Park in Baltimore, Maryland. The Charm City Buccaneers Youth Football League played several games as part of the Homecoming festivities. A suspect, later identified as Tyree Reynolds, was standing in the parking lot next to the football field. He had a black backpack with him. It appears Tyree was watching and waiting. Two victims, who are not named, walked past Tyree. Some words were exchanged. The press release states:
“The two victims do not appear to respond to the Defendant in any meaningful way.”
During the investigation, testimony was given that Tyree had assaulted one of the victims two days previously. This implies the shooting was an targeted attack.
The victims move past Tyree and stand in front of the football field. As the victims move away, Tyree unslings the backpack and removes a firearm. It was probably an AR-15-style pistol, based on the description and the 20 recovered .223 cases at the scene. It was at this point that Tyree opened fire on the two victims.
One of the victims runs toward the football field. The other took cover behind a parked pickup truck. He draws his legally possessed 9mm handgun. He engages Tyree, firing away from the crowded football field. At some point, Tyree is hit in the ankle. He runs away, firing backward while running. It is at this point one of his shots hits 12-year-old Khloe Ishway. She was shot as Tyree was running away. She was entering a car in the parking lot as he ran by. A .22 caliber bullet was recovered from her body. Three other victims were wounded. They all appear to have been at the football field. One was shot in the face, one in the calf and a third in the lower back. Those three were released from the hospital.
The incident was initially portrayed as a random gunfight over a parking space. After the investigation, it was found this was an erroneous assumption. The person who defended themselves and others had a Handgun Carry Permit. The person with the Handgun Carry Permit is unlikely to have a criminal record. During his interview he told police Tyree had pulled a gun on him two days previously and had struck him in the face. The press release does not say what precipitated the previous altercation.
Tyree had been released from prison eight days before the shooting. Tyree had served five years of a 15-year sentence. He was released on probation. Tyree is 23 years old. Senior Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) official Mark Mason wrote a letter on official stationery advocating for Tyree’s release. The Mayor’s office says the letter was not approved by MONSE.
Maryland law bans possession of “assault weapons”. The law bans possession of firearms by convicted felons. The law bans assault, murder, and about two dozen other counts which appear to be pending against Tyree, including six counts of “Use of a High Capacity Magazine in the Commission of a Crime of Violence”. Tyree was violent when he went to prison five years earlier. It appears he was more violent when he was released from prison on parole.
Tyree does not appear to have been concerned with the hundreds of bystanders behind the two people he attempted to assassinate. His instinct for self-preservation appears to have engaged when one of his targets took cover and started firing back.
The police have already stated the man with the Handgun Carry Permit was legitimately acting in defense of himself and others. He fired away from the crowd. The only person hit by his projectiles was Tyree.
Analysis: All the laws prohibiting Tyree from assaulting and killing people failed to stop his violent and foolish rampage. A law abiding armed defender saved his own life, and possibly others. The firearm used by Tyree has not been recovered. If the defender had not hit Tyree, it is plausible Tyree would not have been arrested or tied to the crime scene. It is likely there were confederates, because Tyree was transported to the hospital by private conveyance.
Maryland’s ban on “assault weapons” failed. Maryland’s assault on the Second Amendment remains. On December 2nd, 2026, the United States Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of AR15 bans, which translate into “assault” weapon bans. The results of the case will likely become known in late June of 2027. Many commentators believe the results of the case will apply to the Maryland “assault weapons” ban as well. The Supreme Court is expected to find the bans to be unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
