>
‘Trying to protect a community that obviously doesn’t want to be protected’: Former Baltimore gang member who painted hundreds of ‘no shoot zone’ signs around city is shot three times
- Tyree Moorehead, 46, was shot three times on Wednesday in the neck, jaw and back while going to the store in Baltimore
- Moorehead is known around the city as an anti-gun violence advocate that spray paints ‘no shoot zone’ signs in places where people were shot and killed
- He was once a perpetrator of gun violence himself, claiming to have shot up to 20 people as a teenager before spending 11 years in jail
- While his message is pure, Moorehead is seen as antagonistic and aggressive to neighbors who know him
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A Baltimore ex-gang member who uses graffiti to designate ‘no shoot zones’ to discourage gun violence around the city was shot in his back, neck and jaw on Wednesday.
‘I was shot three times,’ Tyree Moorehead, 46, told reporters on Wednesday. ‘A bullet went through my jaw, my neck and one is still in my back.’
He is known for creating over 250 ‘no shoot zones’ across Baltimore in places where someone was shot and killed to raise awareness for the issue.
A former gang member himself, Moorehead has admitted to shooting up to 20 people as a teenager before serving 11 years in jail following a shootout with police at age 15.
In a video posted to what appears to be Moorehead’s Instagram page, he said he was shot near Monument Street while going to the store in central Baltimore.
Moorehead apparently made it home after the shooting before police arrived, and the injured 46-year-old can be heard saying to medics ‘I’ve been shot in my neck and my back, I think.’
Tyree Moorehead, 46, shows reporters where he was shot on Wednesday, saying a bullet went through his jaw, another went through his neck and another is still in his back
Moorehead claims he is responsible for shooting up to 20 people as a teenager before being imprisoned for over a decade after a shootout with police at age 15
The ex-gang member has created over 200 different ‘no shoot zone’ signs, each placed where someone was shot and killed
Moorehead was then taken to hospital before leaving without being discharged. A video recorded by Fox45 showed him walking down a Baltimore street in hospital scrubs and a blue hair net.
He told a reporter he was ‘good,’ and also said ‘nothing went wrong, you just have someone that’s trying to protect a community that obviously doesn’t want to be protected.’
A heavy police presence was seen outside of Moorehead’s home before he was taken back to the hospital by paramedics on Wednesday evening, where his condition is currently unknown.
Videos posted to his Facebook show frequent encounters with police at his home, especially in the last few days where they can be seen questioning him outside his door.
Moorehead has now dedicated much of his time to spray painting buildings and sidewalks with messages that encourage peace, and calls himself someone who came home and ‘saved his city instead of killing it.’
After leaving the hospital without being discharged, Moorehead returned to his home where he was again taken to the hospital by paramedics
Moorehead is shown wearing a shirt emblazoned with his ‘no shoot zone’ message, meant to discourage Baltimore residents and gang members from using guns to harm each other
But according to his social media, many seemingly disagree with Moorehead’s methods, with some comments calling him ‘sad’ and ‘a scammer.’
Neighbors told CBS reporter Annie Rose that Moorehead is ‘aggressive and antagonizing’ and described the 46-year-old as a ‘pariah to the community.’
It is unclear what Moorehead does for work, but he frequently shares his Cashapp account name on Facebook while asking for funds, which prompted some users to call him a beggar.
Baltimore has seen an unusually deadly year, with 179 homicides recorded in Maryland’s capital in the first six months of this year.
The Baltimore Police Department reported there were 10 shootings, resulting in the deaths of five people, over the past weekend alone.