Baltimore man charged after shooting victim boarded bus, police say

A 28-year-old shooting victim made it onto an MTA bus after gunfire on East Eager Street, and the driver’s call helped Baltimore police piece together how a street attack turned into a transit emergency in east Baltimore.

Police said officers first responded to a gunfire call in the 1600 block of East Eager Street late on April 19, but found a crime scene and no victim. About an hour later, around 12:48 a.m. on April 20, officers located the wounded man in the 6800 block of Belair Road with an apparent gunshot wound. Medics took him to a local hospital.

The clearest thread in the case was the bus ride itself. Investigators said the victim had been shot on East Eager Street, then boarded an MTA bus while trying to get away. The bus driver later notified authorities after realizing a passenger had been injured, a detail that helped police connect the original shooting scene with the location where the victim was found.

On April 21, Baltimore police took 27-year-old Anthony Shearin into custody and transported him to central booking. Shearin faces attempted first-degree murder and assault charges. Police have not said what led to the shooting, and they have not said whether the victim’s injuries were life-threatening.

The case lands at a moment when Baltimore’s overall gun violence has fallen sharply. City and police year-end reporting said Baltimore ended 2025 with 133 homicides and 311 non-fatal shootings, the city’s lowest homicide total in nearly 50 years. Police said homicides fell 31% in 2025 from 2024, and non-fatal shootings fell 24%.

Even with that decline, the Eager Street shooting shows how quickly violence can spill into everyday transit. For bus operators, the first sign of danger may come not from a radio call or a police alert, but from a passenger who is frightened, bleeding or trying to hide in plain sight. Baltimore has seen that before. In a separate case involving an MTA bus, a Baltimore jury convicted James Richburg of second-degree murder and firearm offenses after prosecutors said he shot another passenger aboard the bus.

This latest case reinforces that buses are not only part of the city’s transportation network. In moments like this, they can become the first place a victim turns for refuge, and the first place police learn enough to start tracing a shooting across Baltimore.