Baltimore police are investigating a shooting that happened inside a corner store at the intersection of North Hilton and Kossuth streets in Southwest Baltimore. This location sits directly across from a public charter school serving hundreds of students. Officers confirmed the shooting occurred inside A&Y Grocery Store, but said little else was immediately available about what led up to it or who was involved.
The shooting was first reported by WBAL-TV reporter Tori Yorgey, who wrote that Baltimore police confirmed a shooting inside the corner store on North Hilton Street. Yorgey noted that Green Street Academy sits directly across the street from the store, putting the shooting scene within view of a school that serves roughly 808 to 875 students in grades 6 through 12, according to SchoolDigger. More than 84% of that student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, and the tuition-free charter school still posts an 88% graduation rate despite serving a high-poverty neighborhood, per the same data.
A Corner With a Troubled History
This is not the first time violence has touched down near this stretch of North Hilton Street. In 2019, a double shooting outside Green Street Academy sent the school into lockdown after two 18-year-old men were shot in the 100 block of North Hilton Street, a scene captured at the time by WBAL-TV. Students had already been dismissed early that day for a scheduled half-day, but staff remained inside the building throughout the lockdown.
The following year, a 28-year-old man was fatally shot in the 100 block of North Kossuth Street, just steps from the same intersection. The Baltimore Police Department said homicide detectives arrested a 27-year-old suspect on first-degree murder charges shortly after broadcasting his description over police radio.
Weapons have also turned up inside the school itself. In May 2022, Baltimore City School Police arrested a 16-year-old Green Street Academy student after finding a loaded handgun in his possession on school grounds, according to CBS News Baltimore. That recovery was the 13th firearm confiscated inside a Baltimore City school campus that academic year.
What the School Building Represents
Green Street Academy operates out of the historic former Gwynns Falls Park Junior High School building at 125 N. Hilton Street, a 130,000-square-foot facility built in 1925 that once stood as the most expensive public school building constructed in Baltimore history before sitting vacant for more than two decades. The site underwent major renovations before reopening in 2015, according to Seawall Development.
Maryland law treats weapons offenses near schools with particular severity. Under Maryland Criminal Law Code § 4-102, carrying or possessing a firearm, knife, or deadly weapon on public school grounds is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison and a $1,000 fine, with narrow exemptions for active law enforcement, authorized school guards, or approved educational demonstrations. Handgun violations committed on school grounds also carry heightened mandatory minimums, jumping from 30 days to 90 days in custody for a first-time offense, according to Azari Law LLC, while repeat handgun offenders face mandatory minimums of at least three years.
A Citywide Trend Runs Into a Persistent Hot Spot
The shooting arrives even as Baltimore's overall violent crime numbers keep falling. As of September 1, the city had recorded 72 homicides and 201 non-fatal shootings this year, an 18.2% drop in homicides and a 5.6% drop in non-fatal shootings compared to the same point in 2025, according to the Mayor's Office of Baltimore City. Last year, Baltimore logged 133 homicides, its lowest annual total in nearly 50 years.
City officials point to aggressive weapons enforcement as part of that decline. Through late August, Baltimore Police had recovered more than 1,367 firearms, including 138 untraceable ghost guns. They made 826 firearm-related arrests citywide, with municipal leaders crediting part of that total to the city's Group Violence Reduction Strategy. Even so, the North Hilton and Kossuth intersection has proven resistant to that broader downward trend, with recurring violence stretching back years.
Separately, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday evening to gather resident feedback on speed management and street redesigns along the Hilton Street corridor, part of an ongoing push to address vehicle speeds and pedestrian safety in the area. Whether any students or staff were present during the shooting, whether surveillance footage from inside or outside A&Y Grocery Store captured the suspect, and whether investigators suspect any connection to the networks targeted under the city's violence reduction strategy all remain open questions that police have not yet answered.
Hoodline previously reported on a violent scene involving a knife and gunfire at a nearby Northwest Baltimore complex in August, underscoring the pattern of violence recurring along North Hilton Street. Baltimore police said no further information was immediately available on the A&Y Grocery Store shooting.
