City police arrest suspect in security guard killing
James E. Ball Sr. tried to protect his friend's girlfriend and got shot. That was back in February, as Ball, working his second job as a security guard outside Baltimore's downtown Bank of America Building near the Inner Harbor.
On Tuesday, city police said they had arrested Eric Rose, a 24-year-old man who lives on East 33rd Street (police mug shot at left), and charged him with first-degree murder. We don't know too many details of the suspect yet, but it was the victim's family that really captured our attention.
The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Ball's brother Austin sits with his mother, Sarah, with pictures of James Ball's two children, 6-year-old James Ball Jr. and 10-month-old Justin.
Ball had grown up on Fulton Avenue where from an early age he shunned the streets, collected a group of like-minded friends and together they made a deal -- they would grow up successful, look out for each other, and, if necessary, raise each other's children. Two, including Ball, grew up without a father and none wanted that to happen again.
So after Ball was shot on Light Street, his friends came to his surviving family and helped his girlfriend break the tragic news to his two children. One of his best friend's works at the downtown Tremont Hotel; another has a federal job in Washington. Ball had worked as a postal carrier, a security guard and an engineer.
(The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Ball's brother Austin sits with his mother, Sarah, with pictures of James Ball's two children, 6-year-old James Ball Jr. and 10-month-old Justin.)
Police say that the night he was killed, he was talking to a friend outside the bank on Light Street when a group of men confronted his friend's girlfriend who was sitting in a car. Ball and his friend walked over to confront the men, one of whom pulled a gun. Police said the gunman intended to shoot Ball's friend, but missed and hit the security guard.
One of his best friends summed up the tragedy of James E. Ball Sr.'s shooting death this past weekend outside downtown Baltimore's Bank of America building:
"He did all the right things, and he still suffered the fate we had all been trying to avoid."
As a child, Ball had tapped into a close group of friends to survive growing up on Fulton Avenue in one of Baltimore's most depressed neighborhoods. Together, they escaped the drugs and the shootings that claimed many of their classmates, going on to college or to hold down jobs, and to raise families.
Comments
Respect to all security guards, these men risk their lives on a daily basis to make places safer for us. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of James E. Ball, may he rest in piece. Being a security officer myself, i know far to well the risks and dangers that are involved with a job in the security industry.
Posted by: Security Guard Center | March 13, 2011 1:27 PM