Guard at Bank of America killed downtown -- Update
A security guard working an overnight shift at the Bank of America building in downtown Baltimore was shot and killed early Saturday when police said he tried to quell a dispute over a woman that erupted between a friend and several other men who had just left a nightclub.
Police identified the guard as James Ball, 38. He had worked for Wackenhut, a private security company hired by the building’s owners. He died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center shortly after being shot twice, at least once in the chest, according to police.
The shooting occurred a few minutes after 2 a.m. as patrons were leaving clubs scattered across downtown.
Extra police typically patrol the area during these hours because of the large, boisterous crowds. Last year, a series of violent robberies and shootings at and around the Inner Harbor and in Mount Vernon and Mid-Town Belvedere raised questions about safety.
For more, including an interview with the victim's brother:
Baltimore police chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said a 25-year-old man and his girlfriend had just left a downtown club, which he refused to identify, and were walking to their car parked near the bank at 10 Light St.
The woman went to the car and the man stopped to chat with Ball, with whom he was friends, just at the bank entrance. As they talked, a group of men approached the car “and made advances toward the female,” Guglielmi said.
Ball, who was unarmed, and his friend walked to the car and argued with the men, but the exchange escalated, the spokesman said. “The security guard tired to mediate the dispute,” Guglielmi added.
Police said one of the men in the group went to his car, returned with a handgun and fired as many as nine shots. Guglielmi said detectives believe the gunman was firing at the 25-year-old man, but missed him and hit the unarmed security guard instead.
Ball , a West Baltimore native and a graduate of Carver Vocational-Technical High, was working more than 70 hours a week to pay for the Windsor Mill home he shared with his longtime girlfriend and two young children, said his brother, Austin Ball.
“He was a hard-working guy,” his brother said. “Things were really looking up for him.”
Ball had previously worked for the U.S. Postal Service, but, after his hours were cut, took jobs for two different security firms. He worked an eight-hour shift Friday in Columbia before reporting to work at the bank building.
On the way to Baltimore, James Ball ran out of fuel on I-95 and his brother brought him gasoline and followed him to a filling station. They parted about 1 a.m. Hours later, he learned his brother had been shot.
“If he had a job to do, he would have given it his all,” Austin Ball said, adding that he was not acquainted with the friend his brother was talking with before the shooting.
Ball was unarmed at the time of the shooting. His brother said he had submitted paperwork to get a gun permit and expected to receive one in the next couple weeks.
Guglielmi said the Ball’s friend and girlfriend are cooperating with homicide detectives. He said police have no suspects or people of interest in custody, but investigators are reviewing tapes from Citiwatch surveillance and private cameras at the bank.
Comments
My prayers are with the Ball family. Baltimore truly lost a great friend. James you will be sorely missed. RIP
Posted by: Wade | February 21, 2010 12:40 AM
How can you be an security guard in Baltimore and unarmed?
Posted by: Steve | February 21, 2010 3:54 AM
Two life sentences plus 100 years should be the minimum time for this crime and others similar. If capital punishment and exile are not options. Post big billboards all over the city with the faces of those convicted with a caption that reads: "Do You Really Want Your Face Here".
Posted by: Jeffrey H | February 21, 2010 7:45 AM
Seems to me the guard was defenseless.
Does anyone know the name of the building or who menages it?
Posted by: Art0430 | February 22, 2010 9:36 AM
My prayers are with the Ball family. I went to Elementary school with James and he was very kind and a good friend. He will be truely missed. When will these types of actions stop on the streets?
Posted by: Cassandra | February 22, 2010 10:18 AM
I wish that this story got as much attention as would any police officer lost in the line of duty.
My prayers are with the family.....
Posted by: V | February 22, 2010 10:28 PM
This guy is a hero and he gave his life to protect an innocent person. I know one of Mr. Ball's sons, our kids are friends at school, and it really breaks my heart to think that that sweet liitle boy lost his dad. God bless James Ball, and my sincere condolences to his entire family.
Posted by: Sad Dad | February 22, 2010 10:43 PM
How very, very sad. This young man
striving to 'be present' for his children,
working double/triple duty to provide
for his family should lose his life defending the human dignity of others.
That fact, that this dad was an unarmed
security guard in a high crime area, no
less, really is tragic.
What's the sense in being security, if
security cannot defend itself nor thereby
the property???
Posted by: Nia | February 23, 2010 5:49 AM
Ball Family--My prayers are with you and yours as you struggle through this grieving process.
Posted by: WDB | February 25, 2010 2:54 AM
To the Ball Family... my heart gors out to the family for this senseless murder. It has come to the point that people have no value of another persons life. I hurt for his children, his mom, and the childrens mom. I pray for the person(s) that commited this crime that they will turn themselves in. A person with a heart cannot not possibly sleep with this on their heart. Please turn yourself in, not for yourself, but the the innocent children w/o a Dad. Forget what your friends will say or think of you, do it because you're someones child and your parents would be hurt if something happened to you. I will continue to pray for you and this family...
Posted by: sadden | February 25, 2010 12:54 PM
why do always innocent people die. I hope they get the shooter and sentence him to death for killing an honest person.
Posted by: don tata | June 20, 2010 8:01 PM