Rodgers Forge shooting: Attack and cleanup caught on video, police say

A teenager suspected of trying to rob a Rodgers Forge man who was standing next to his car resulted in a fight and shooting, according to police charging documents, as new details emerge in an incident that shook the tight-knit community.

The encounter last month sent the 50-year-old to the hospital and led to the arrest of a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, both charged as adults with attempted first-degree murder, assault and related charges. with weapons. The two teens fled in a stolen Kia SUV, according to charging documents, which also detail how authorities used social media and cellphone data to find the suspects.

Surveillance footage obtained by police shows the victim, Mark McKenzie, cleaning his car on Sept. 13 when one of the teens, wearing a hoodie with “distinctive markings,” approached him. McKenzie turned to look at the suspect just as the 15-year-old pointed a gun at McKenzie’s head, according to court records.

There was a fight between the two, who stumbled into an alley where the teenager fired a shot that hit McKenzie, according to the documents.

Witnesses said they saw someone running from the alley toward a waiting SUV, which police said was a Kia that had been stolen the night before.

Additional video footage showed the two teens arriving on North Lakewood Avenue about 23 minutes after the shooting, police said. The footage shows them pouring bleach on the white SUV.

Detectives said they used social media and other cellphone data, including data obtained through a warrant from a cellphone carrier, to find at least one of the suspects, court records show.

The attempted robbery coincides with a year in which Maryland lawmakers are examining rules surrounding juvenile justice and as authorities respond to a violent attack captured on video in Butchers Hill that involved a 15-year-old.

By the time police identified the shooters, residents in that pocket of Rodgers Forge had already decorated their lawns with dazzling cobwebs, giant spiders and eight-foot ghouls.

Mothers pushed their children in strollers down the street on Friday morning. Neighbors swept up the overgrown flora in the front yards. Any signs of gunfire on that quiet suburban stretch of Dunkirk Road turned into whispers among neighbors.

Many neighbors who spoke to The Baltimore Banner said they were still trying to figure out what happened that day. Minna Knight, who works as a video editor at a home on the same block where the shooting occurred, said she heard a “loud pop.”

Carol Ashmen, who lives a few blocks away, said she stumbled upon a group of police cars in the alley while walking her dog.

“At first, when I heard about this, I thought, ‘I need to get a gun. I need a lot of protection,’” said Ashmen, who has lived in the area for 40 years. “But there’s always someone working outside,” she said over the sound of a neighbor’s lawnmower. Ashmen still takes his doodle on daily walks near the alley.

“I hope it’s unique,” ​​Ashmen said.

Police said they also connected the two teens to an armed robbery on an MTA bus on Sept. 11, where a victim allegedly sent money via CashApp.

Read the billing documents: