There were black and blue balloons tied to the railing of a Baltimore housing project and candles spelling “BJ.”

There were plans for another funeral and a march for justice. There were all-too familiar feelings of grief and trauma across a West Baltimore neighborhood at the center of the fault line between police and the community.

An uneasy calm has settled in after police shot and killed the popular arabber Bilal “BJ” Abdullah on Tuesday evening before a crowd of onlookers. Police allege Abdullah pointed a gun at the officers.

City Hall officials returned to the Upton neighborhood Friday for a private meeting with community leaders and bystanders as they work to listen and ease tensions. Abdullah’s family has urged participants in a rally and march planned for Friday evening to remain peaceful. Meanwhile, the city heads into one of its biggest weekends of the year with the annual AFRAM festival.

Among the city leaders who attended the meeting was City Council member John Bullock, whose district includes the scene of the shooting.

“I’m not certain that it lowered the temperature,” he said. “You had a limited amount of folks there. But, for the folks who were part of the conversation, I do think it was received well. And hopefully that’s relayed to others.”

Bullock said he and other officials are mindful there are potential flashpoints in the hours and days ahead. He mentioned Friday evening’s march and the eventual release of body-camera video of the shooting.

Present on minds here was the painful memory of the arrest and death of Freddie Gray and the unrest that followed 10 years ago.

“It’s a part of the city that has had its challenges in multiple ways,” Bullock added. “Obviously there was a tragic instance that happened, but it shouldn’t just be these types of meetings only when a tragedy happens but on a more consistent basis.”

Two young men who attended the meeting and declined to give their names said afterward that they hope the presence of city officials will lead to efforts to bring more jobs to the neighborhood and to reduce the crowds on the street.

“People need to see that we’re here to listen but also here to articulate what they need,” said Councilman James Torrence, who also attended the meeting. “This is a collective trauma for all of us. We leaned on the fact that we’re here with them but also that we’re experiencing it with them.”

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office investigates police shootings and identified the Baltimore officers involved as Devin Yancy, an eight-year veteran; Omar Rodriguez, a six-year veteran; and Ashley Negron, a seven-year veteran. Rodriguez and Yancy are assigned to the Group Violence Unit and Negron to the patrol division. The three were placed on routine administrative leave.

The Upton shooting

The attorney general’s office said its initial investigation has shown officers in an unmarked vehicle attempted to speak with Abdullah while he stood at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Laurens Street wearing a crossbody bag.

Investigators have not established who fatally shot Abdullah or how many shots were fired.

One officer exited the vehicle and approached Abdullah, who walked away, according to the office.

As the officer followed him, Abdullah allegedly shifted his bag from back to front and ran away. A second police officer in the unmarked vehicle and a third officer in a marked vehicle got out of their cars and joined the pursuit, investigators said.

The first officer grabbed Abdullah and “a firearm was discharged,” according to the initial investigation. The officers retreated and Abdullah “pointed a firearm at the officers and three officers exchanged gunfire with the man, striking him.”

After he was shot, a crowd gathered, investigators said. Police have said this initially prevented them from providing medical aid to Abdullah, who was eventually taken to a hospital. He was declared dead at 11:14 p.m. Tuesday.

Police said an eight-year veteran of the department was shot in the foot and taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The officer was in fair condition and scheduled for surgery Wednesday afternoon.

The Baltimore Police union came to the defense of the officers with a statement Friday.

“This armed person, just before the shooting, displayed a handgun in a threatening manner and threatened to shoot it out with the police,” union President Mike Mancuso wrote in the statement.

Previous investigation

Yancy, one of the officers named by the attorney general’s office Friday, was part of a fatal vehicle pursuit in February 2023.

Less than a block behind a stolen car he was following, Yancy began to decelerate, according to investigators, when the driver of the stolen car went through a red light, hit a car, struck a man and crashed into a vacant building, which partially collapsed.

The victim, 54-year-old Alfred Fincher, was declared dead at the scene. The driver of the stolen vehicle, Shawn Brunson, was sentenced to serve more than 29 years in prison on charges of vehicular manslaughter, theft and driving without a license, along with a violation of probation.

Abdullah and community reaction

Abdullah was a longtime arabber and fixture in his community. Though he retired from the work years ago, he was, for many years, one of the men who traveled the city with a horse and cart selling fresh fruit and vegetables.

The arabber community in Baltimore has been around for centuries and provides a way for people who live in the city’s expansive food deserts to buy produce.

Aaron Maybin, chair of Baltimore’s Civilian Review Board, said on social media that “nobody deserves to die” the way Abdullah did.

“You might not have been on a first-name basis with him. You might not have partied together on the weekends, but you recognized his smiling face. You recognized his horse and his cart,” Maybin said.

Nikki Smith owns and operates Journey Mental Health and Wellness, a food pantry and community resource center at 1800 Pennsylvania Ave.

She said several people gave her beginning-to-end descriptions of the shooting, but she did not witness it herself. Those descriptions dispute some details of the police account, she said.

Torrence, who represents Upton and other neighborhoods in West Baltimore on City Council, called for a thorough and transparent investigation and said he was saddened by the shooting.

The Baltimore Police Accountability Board was to hold an emergency meeting at 6.pm. Friday on Zoom. A rally and march for Abdullah was also scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at the corner of West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue.

This article may be updated.

Baltimore Banner reporters Dylan Segelbaum, Darreonna Davis, Justin Fenton and Liz Bowie contributed to this story.