Digital Harbor Student Robbed at Gunpoint Near East Cross and Battery Avenue

Classes were about to start Tuesday morning when a Digital Harbor High School student was robbed at gunpoint after getting off a city bus near East Cross Street and Battery Avenue, Baltimore police said. The victim’s identity has not been released and investigators are continuing their inquiry into the incident.

Baltimore police said they are addressing a string of robberies and that, while investigators do not know whether the incidents are all related, they have identified 20-year-old Laemal Kent as one of the suspects in a Feb. 11 robbery. Police said a warrant was issued for Kent’s arrest last week, but he has not been arrested yet.

Baltimore City Schools sent a message dated Feb. 24, 2026 “From the desk of Principal Jackson,” authored by Rashawna Sydnor, saying, “Over the last two months, there have been three robberies in the community, including one this morning.” The message added, “Our number one goal is always to ensure that our students are safe on their way to and from school,” and listed partnerships with Baltimore City Police, Baltimore City School Police, The Movement Team, and local neighborhood associations. The school urged families to review safety steps including “Staying alert and aware of their surroundings,” “Traveling with friends rather than alone whenever possible,” “Keeping valuable items secure and out of sight,” and “Reporting any suspicious activity to school staff or authorities immediately,” and said school staff will “continue to be visible in the community before and after school to ensure that students are safe.”

Southern District Commander Major Steven Ward notified a private Federal Hill neighborhood group about a concentrated rash of crimes near the campus, saying three robberies took place over the course of just three days last week in the 1100 block of Covington Street. Ward’s notices included a report that just before 4 p.m. three teens chased a man across the school promenade; police said one suspect told the victim, “I want your wallet, phone and keys,” and the suspects fled with an iPhone after a tussle. Ward’s posts also described a separate knifepoint carjacking in which two men displayed a three-inch folding knife and said “give me your keys”; police later recovered the stolen car.

Students and neighborhood reporting paint a broader pattern of risk at transfer points downtown. The Banner published an account from Angie Castro, identified as a slight 15-year-old junior who said she has always felt uneasy transferring at the corner of Light and Pratt. Angie described witnessing two people in ski masks attack a student — “they brought him over to [broken] glass and dropped him on it” — and a separate close call in which she ran home, later saying, “When I noticed he was following me, I started walking faster” and “I think I could have gotten kidnapped.” Banner analysis found that the Light and Pratt stop recorded four reported assaults and a robbery during students’ commuting hours from the 2022-23 through 2024-25 school years, and that Digital Harbor’s 1,722 students may take up to 187 unique routes home, with seven routes carrying as many as 42 students through 10 transfer points where crime rates are particularly elevated. The Banner noted federal research showing about half of crimes go unreported and that many student incidents do not reach police.

Investigations remain ongoing. Baltimore police say they do not yet know whether the East Cross and Battery gunpoint robbery, the Feb. 11 incident tied to the Kent warrant, and the cluster of Covington Street robberies are connected, and school officials say they will continue working with city and school police, The Movement Team, and neighborhood associations to increase visible presence around Digital Harbor before and after classes.