Angelo Little, 17, was killed Saturday, July 27, at the Mall in Columbia, shot during a dispute in the food court, CBS News Baltimore and The Washington Post report.
“We don’t believe that this was a random incident, and we do believe the victim was targeted,” CBS News quoted Howard County Police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn as saying. “We don’t have any information about a history of a relationship between the two, but based on our preliminary evidence, this was not a random incident.”
Just after 6 PM, officers received a report of gunfire and arrived to find Angelo dead. The suspect had fled the property, and police have made no arrests in the case as of this writing. A reward is being offered, and anyone with information on the shooting should call police at (410) 313-7867.
Investigators believe one shot was fired. “There are no indications that anyone else was in danger,” the Post quoted a police spokeswoman as saying.
However, the paper also quoted tweets that expressed fear, such as “my dad was in a mall today with a shooter who killed someone and he was running for his life.” The Mall in Columbia is a popular hang-out for teens and others.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help Angelo’s loved ones provide a burial for him. As of this writing, the goal of $7,000 had been met and exceeded.
Angelo was a student at Homewood Center High School in Ellicott City and would have been a senior this year. The school serves about 90 students in grades 6 through 12 and has a 50-percent graduation rate.
Dwayne Williams, principal at Homewood Center HS (via school website)According to Howard County Public Schools, the Homewood Center includes the Bridges, Gateway, and Innovative Pathways programs, each designed to meet the specific needs of individual students. With a strong focus on restorative practices and social-emotional learning, Homewood believes in taking care of the whole child so that academic and post-secondary potential can be reached.
The Bridges Program at the Homewood Center, for example, is a special education program for middle and high school students. It offers small classes and specialized teaching to help students with psychiatric conditions like anxiety, depression, or Autism Spectrum Disorders. The program focuses on social-emotional learning and improving executive function skills. It provides therapy and counseling and has a high staff-to-student ratio. Students in the program usually struggle with social skills and coping strategies, which affects their learning and emotional well-being.
The Howard County Gateway Program, a county-wide initiative, is an alternative education program for middle and high school students who need a more personalized learning environment. It offers smaller classes and tailored instruction compared to regular schools. The program includes trauma-informed care and counseling to support students’ emotional well-being. Gateway also helps students plan for their future by creating support plans for success in high school and beyond.
The Innovative Pathways Program is designed for students who are seeking to recover credit for missed or failed courses, are interested in taking additional classes to advance their studies, are on long-term suspension, or have been expelled from school but are under 18.
