On the evening of May 26, 2016, a burst of gunfire shattered the peace in the 2700 block of The Alameda in Northeast Baltimore, leaving two young men with fatal injuries. One of the men was Maurice Mayo, a 24-year-old Black male. When police arrived at the scene around 6 p.m., they discovered Mayo and another man, Brian Banks, age 20, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Both men were rushed to a nearby hospital, but their injuries proved too severe, and they were pronounced dead. The incident was classified as a double homicide.
Initial investigations into the deadly encounter suggested a grim scenario. According to a 2016 list of Baltimore City homicides, the two victims had been shooting at each other. At the time of the initial reports, police had not released any information about a possible motive or any other suspects involved in the fatal shootout. The case was part of a wave of violence that plagued the city, and the deaths of Maurice Mayo and Brian Banks added to the year's growing homicide count.
