GANGLAND GODFATHER

Members of two gangs, a Bloods faction and a Crips faction, passed each other in a hallway and exchanged words.Then, "one coward sucker-punched a kid in the other group," he said.As a scuffle broke out, someone told police that a person in the pavilion had a gun, said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman.Before officers could arrive, a member of the Crips had fired a semi-automatic handgun, according to police.One victim lay bleeding on the ground. Another left and was found by police at a nearby amphitheater. Neither shooting victim was willing to give police information about the incident, Bealefeld said, noting that it took hours before the second victim admitted that he had been shot at the Inner Harbor.Law enforcement officials have struggled for decades over how best to monitor and combat gang activity in Baltimore and elsewhere in Maryland. State lawmakers have passed measures aimed at gang leaders in recent years, but prosecutors say the new laws are cumbersome and s...

Verdict in a murder case involving an alleged member of the Black Guerrilla Family gang. In recent weeks, police have arrested more than two dozen BGF members in a major crackdown on the gang. Black Guerrilla Family is one of the most notorious gangs in the city, and they're known for running their outside operations from prison.Drug trafficking, violence, witness intimidation. Authorities say they're synonymous with the gang BGF, whose members only gain rank in prison and use contraband cell phones behind bars to run crimes through associates on the outside. "As gangs have grown in stature in Baltimore, so has BGF's stature on the streets of Baltimore," said Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld. "Gangs really are the gathering storm for Baltimore."Recently, one BGF member was charged with trying to kill a witness in the case of former City Councilman Ken Harris. Another alleged member--who jurors just found guilty of murder--is accused of brazen witnes...