A fire at a building used by a motorcycle club was likely set in retaliation for a shooting that took place nearby over the weekend and left one man dead and seven people injured, Baltimore Police said Thursday evening.

In the chapel of Knox Presbyterian Church, Eastern District Commander Maj. Jai Etwaroo told a community meeting of investigators’ suspicions. The comments came a day after firefighters doused a blaze that left the warehouse at 1301 N. Spring St. with broken windows and a blackened brick face.

The fire happened four days after what police described as a “mass shooting” that left Anthony Martin, 36, dead Sunday night. Six men ranging in ages from 21 to 46 were wounded along with a 41-year-old woman, according to police.

Etwaroo called the shooting “the most traumatic experience” as a district commander so far. According to a BPD ballistics analysis, he said, 10 firearms were discharged at the shooting. Because of thunder, the nearby shotspotter did not detect the gunfire initially, he added.

Etwaroo did not give details on who may have retaliated against the motorcycle club or how the fire was set.

While Etwaroo spoke inside the chapel, upwards of 200 neighbors and community members gathered for a vigil on the basketball courts near the building. Participants held blue, silver and white balloons as 10 police officers patrolled the area. Some traded shots of Patron and Hennessy in toasts to Martin.

The fire at the warehouse was reported around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters saw smoke coming from the garage and quickly entered and extinguished the blaze, a Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson said. No one was injured, according to fire and police officials. The Police Department’s arson unit is investigating.

The community event at the chapel, where Etwaroo spoke to roughly 50 attendees, included a lively debate about lack of police presence in the neighborhood, specifically to prevent incidents like the shooting.

Etwaroo asked attendees to not call the local neighborhood association when issues occur, but to call 911, citing how there were only four complaints about the motorcycle club since he became district commander.

”It was not on our radar,” he said. “So please, when you see something, say something. Call 911.”

The warehouse had been listed in public records as the address of the “TB Aberdeen Motorcycle Club Inc.” The business was listed as forfeited last year after failing to file a property tax return.

According to public records, two motorcycle-related businesses have been registered to the Spring Street address. “Moon’s Motorcycle Transport LLC” has been associated with the address since 2022, though records say the business is not currently in good standing.

The businesses are registered to Carlton Shaw. When reached by phone, Shaw said he had nothing to do with the companies.

Facebook posts have advertised the warehouse as a site for parties by biker groups going back several years.

Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy told community members the city agency is inspecting the burnt building with the goal of labeling it vacant. Kennedy added that a vacant designation “gives us even more tools in our toolbox to assist the community.” Declaring the building vacant, she said, would start the abatement process with the owner and could eventually lead to the city acquiring it or pushing it into receivership. How that plays out would depend on the owner’s response to the abatement process, Kennedy said.

Earlier in the day, neighbors in Oliver walked by the burned-out remains as two workers threw charred plywood in a dump truck and cleaned up shattered glass. The warehouse had been a source of tension in the area for some time, with exchanges between members of the community and the motorcycle club over parking, noise and turf, the neighbors said Thursday morning.

“They burned down the bike club,” a young man called out, walking by and filming the wreckage on his cellphone.

Several neighbors who walked by Thursday morning said they suspected the fire was an act of retaliation for the shooting Sunday night, and just the latest escalation between the neighborhood and the motorcycle club.

The warehouse sits on a small side street beside a basketball court, new tennis courts and the Calvin B. Scruggs Sr. Park. The community used the courts and park. On Sundays, crowds of bikers came into the neighborhood from outside to hold parties and events at the clubhouse. Sometimes, the bikers put out cones to shut down the street and refused to let people walk through, one neighbor said.

The situation was headed to a breaking point.

“You could definitely see it building up,” said the man, who declined to be identified.

Officers were called to the area Sunday evening for complaints of loud noise and that motorcycles were blocking the street. Officers did not find any obstructions or loud noise and left, a department spokeswoman said.

Councilman Robert Stokes told reporters at the scene Monday there had been tensions for years between the neighborhood and the biker group.

“The community has called about that particular location, about at nighttime them leaving out of that building,” he said. “It could be 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, and they’re revving up the motorcycles, making all this noise.”