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False reports raise tension in Baltimore

BALTIMORE - False reports Monday that police shot a young man who was running from officers highlighted the tension that still hangs over the city as it recovers from riots that ignited after Freddie Gray's death.

A man lies on a Baltimore sidewalk as officers attempt to calm the crowd. The man was taken to a hospital but was not injured, police say.
A man lies on a Baltimore sidewalk as officers attempt to calm the crowd. The man was taken to a hospital but was not injured, police say.Read moreJESSICA KOSCIELNIAK / McClatchy / TNS

BALTIMORE - False reports Monday that police shot a young man who was running from officers highlighted the tension that still hangs over the city as it recovers from riots that ignited after Freddie Gray's death.

Members of a Fox News crew and at least one witness interviewed on the network Monday afternoon said they saw an officer fire at a man near Pennsylvania and North Avenues. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith later retracted the report and said on-air that the network "screwed up."

Police said a man was arrested and his gun fired, but no one was hurt. The incident occurred near an intersection that was at the heart of looting and riots last week. With fears that a repeat of last week's violence could erupt at any moment, police tried to calm the crowd that quickly formed.

"Nobody got shot," Deputy Police Commissioner Dean Palmere said as he walked the police line, telling anyone who would listen. "A gun went off. There is a misinterpretation in the community."

Lt. Col. Melvin Russell said the incident started around 3 p.m., when a person with a handgun was seen on one of the department's closed-circuit cameras. Officers responded and there was a brief foot chase, Russell said.

The man "pulled or tried to pull a revolver," and officers heard what sounded like a gunshot, Russell said. Officers arrested the man and recovered a revolver that contained three cartridges - with one spent cartridge indicating the weapon had been fired. Police did not say whether they think the weapon was fired accidentally or intentionally.

"Police did not discharge their weapons," Russell said.

An ambulance arrived at the scene, Russell said, and the man refused medical treatment. The man was taken to the hospital, and authorities said it appears he was not injured.

As word of the alleged police-involved shooting spread, a small but volatile crowd confronted a line of police officers in riot gear near the intersection. One man lunged at police but was held back by relatives as a preacher pleaded for order. Some insisted the man was shot in the leg because he was being taken away in an ambulance. Others recorded video.

Many who gathered expressed continued distrust of law enforcement, most recently underscored by the death of Gray.

The 25-year-old suffered a severe spinal injury while in police custody last month. Authorities said the officers connected to his case illegally arrested him, did not properly seat belt him in the back of a police van and ignored his requests for medical attention.