Baltimore home invasion ends in death of wheelchair user

From ABC 2 News in Baltimore:

"I heard something sounds like some tingle---Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!, said the victims’ neighbor, Rodney Murphy, “About seven times, right?”

The intruder found an easy target in the 45-year old Swann who was wheelchair-bound, and also struck his mother with a pair of bullets to her face and leg.

As the gunman fled the house on Lemmon Street in West Baltimore, Murphy ran towards the sound of the injured woman screaming for help.

"There was a lady standing in the door saying, 'Help! Help! My son and I just been shot!" said Murphy.

Swann’s injuries proved to be fatal, and at this point in the investigation, police believe there was nothing random about the shooting.

It appears someone beat them up and ransacked their home earlier this month.

"About two weeks ago, there was a home invasion there,” said Baltimore Police Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, “What detectives are trying to do now is figure out what role this victim might have had in any type of violence. Was he involved in any gang activity? Was he involved in drug activity? Was he simply a witness? It's pretty unusual that there could be a second home invasion two weeks before a second attack."

Some residents say they have little doubt the victims were targets with little regard to the fact that the disabled son and his mother could not defend themselves.

"All the people that live in that complex are like paraplegic people, and I just think it was a cowardly act for somebody to shoot someone in a wheelchair," said Murphy.

Police say the elderly victim is in stable condition at the Shock Trauma Center, and she’s expected to survive.