UPDATE, APRIL 27 (8:15 p.m.): Fifteen police officers were injured on Monday and two are still in the hospital, according to The Associated Press. Two dozen people have been arrested.
UPDATE, APRIL 27 (8:10 p.m.): Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has put the city under a strict 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for the next week, according to The Associated Press. Monday night's Baltimore Orioles game is cancelled and Rawlings-Blake has declared a state of emergency in Maryland. The National Guard has been deployed in Baltimore, reports Buzzfeed News.
Protests and unrest in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray reached another tipping point on Monday afternoon, as seven police officers were injured. One of the officers was unresponsive after being hit with a cement block, according to CBS News.
According to CBS, the Mondawmin Mall in Baltimore became a center for the protest that quickly turned violent. A note was passed around social media calling high school students in the city to meet at the mall and act as if they were in the film "The Purge," which fictionally depicts 24 hours of complete lawlessness. However, a conflicting CBS report also stated that the gathering was initially planned to be a march that turned violent.
North and Division, Baltimore pic.twitter.com/nnEo5sh63o
— joe johns (@joejohnscnn) April 27, 2015
Multiple police cars and Maryland MTA cars were destroyed on Monday, and two were set on fire. Stores were looted throughout the weekend in the Baltimore area, causing police to use pepper spray on crowds, and much of the same continued into Monday afternoon. Journalists and photographers were injured on Monday as well.
Several of our officers were attacked today by criminals while trying to protect residents in the Mondawmin Community. — Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015
The violence comes on the day Gray's body was put to restand despite his family and friends going on record at CBS, stating that the violence insults his memory and the protests should remain peaceful. Police are continuing to investigate "credible threats" by multiple gangs that have allegedly teamed up to "take out" Baltimore law enforcement, according to CBS News. The University of Maryland, Baltimore campus was closed on Monday afternoon due to the violence, and it is still not yet known if the Baltimore Orioles game tonight at Camden Yards will be played after Monday's violence reached as close as four blocks from the stadium. On Saturday, an Orioles game had to be temporarily suspended due to violence in the area surrounding the stadium.
Several juveniles are part of these aggressive groups. WE ARE ASKING ALL PARENTS TO LOCATE THEIR CHILDREN AND BRING THEM HOME. — Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015
Gray was arrested on April 12 after running from the police, according to The Baltimore Sun's timeline of events. Police said that Gray stopped voluntarily and no force was needed to arrest him. After a police van arrived to transport Gray, eyewitness told the Sun that he was beaten by police, although the autopsy doesn't support those claims. On a video recording of his arrest, a man believed to be Gray is seen in distress due to what seems like a leg-related injury.
An hour after being arrested, Gray arrived at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in a coma. Officers said he "suffered a medical emergency during transport." According to the report, Gray had a switchblade on his person in the van.
He died on April 19, and, according to family and friends, Gray's neck was "80% severed," had three fractured vertebrae, and his larynx was injured, CNN reported.
The results of Maryland's official investigation into Gray's arrest will be released on Friday.
