The circumstances of a shooting incident, in which a 36-year-old utility inspector was found by police yesterday at a Department of Public Works maintenance yard with a gunshot wound in the leg, is being withheld by agency officials.

After saying information would be released today, a DPW spokesperson told The Brew that “we are not issuing a statement on yesterday’s incident.”

Police responded Monday to a call at 3 p.m. in the 2300 block of North Fulton Avenue, site of DPW’s Park Terminal Maintenance Facility, of a female suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

The victim had reportedly driven herself to the facility after being attacked at an unknown location, according to department sources who said they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It is unclear whether the victim, Kia L. Saunders, an 8-year DPW inspector assigned to the water and wastewater bureau, was working at the time of the incident.

Medics took her to an area hospital, police said. Sinai Hospital later confirmed that Saunders was being treated in the emergency room.

Western District detectives are looking into the shooting, but because it is an open investigation, BPD is not releasing further information, a spokesperson said today.

UPDATE 8/13/24, 8 pm:

DPW issued a statement to The Brew saying the employee was driving home from work when struck by a stray bullet near North and Fulton avenues on Monday.

Here is the full text:

Death from Overheating

The attack came 11 days after a DPW sanitation worker died of hyperthemia while collecting trash in North Baltimore’s Barclay neighborhood during a period of  “Code Red” heat.

The family of Ronald Silver II yesterday gathered in front of City Hall to call his death “completely preventable” and to demand public hearings by the City Council and a full investigation by DPW, whose acting head, Khalil Zaied, has yet to be confirmed by the Council.

Silver’s death came on the heels of two scathing reports of working conditions at DPW’s sanitation field offices by Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.

Cumming found that the agency was taking few steps to insure that workers were kept cool and hydrated in hot weather, including at the Cherry Hill yard where Silver was assigned.

She found stifling temperatures in employee locker rooms due to non-functioning air conditioners. She described inoperable water fountains, broken ice machines and inadequate supplies of drinking water and Gatorade before employees were dispatched on their morning garbage routes.

At one facility, Cumming wrote, male employees were forced to ask permission for toilet paper.

West Baltimore Shooting

On May 18, a DPW employee was shot in the alley behind the 800 block of Allendale Street in West Baltimore.

Police said an unidentified suspect had opened fire as the sanitation crew collected trash, striking the 42-year-old.

The victim was transported to an area hospital in a DPW vehicle, police said.
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RECENT BREW COVERAGE:

• Many city workers endure inhumane conditions similar to those uncovered by OIG, union leader says (7/25/24)

• In surprise visit, Baltimore inspector general finds sanitation workers exposed to extreme heat, no A/C (7/10/24)

• DPW knew about poor working conditions at solid waste facility for months, IG says (7/23/24)

• To reach a reporter: reuttermark@yahooom.com