Howard County police said six other people were hurt after gunfire broke out inside a parking garage.
COLUMBIA, Md. — A 24-year-old Virginia man was killed and six other people were injured Monday after gunfire erupted during an illegal car rally inside a Columbia parking garage, Howard County police said.
Police identified the man who died as Leo Noel Balladares-Arita, of Falls Church, Virginia. The shooting happened about 5:27 a.m. April 27 in the 6700 block of Alexander Bell Drive, where investigators said a group had gathered for a car meet.
Officers arrived after a report of a person shot and found Balladares-Arita dead at the scene. Police said an adult female was taken from the garage to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Over the next several hours, more victims walked into hospitals around the region.
Howard County police said the injured victims were all from Virginia. They included three 20-year-old men, a 19-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl. A seventh victim tied to the shooting later walked into a Virginia hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Police said detectives believe many of the people at the rally knew each other and were not from Howard County. Sherry Llewellyn, a Howard County police spokeswoman, said investigators believe there was an exchange of gunfire involving multiple shooters. No firearms had been recovered as of Monday.
Witnesses told police that about 40 to 50 people attended the rally. Investigators said the gathering appeared to have been coordinated online and held in a garage that was away from heavier traffic. Police said the garage did not have surveillance cameras, which may make the investigation more difficult.
The shooting added a violent turn to ongoing police concerns about illegal car rallies and takeovers in Maryland. Howard County police have worked with a state-led task force aimed at stopping such gatherings. Llewellyn said the county has seen a sharp drop in those events since 2023, but this group was not known to local police.
Detectives were still working Monday to determine how many vehicles were at the garage, who fired shots and what led to the violence. Police said no arrests had been announced, and no suspect information had been released.
The case remained under investigation Tuesday, April 28. Police said Balladares-Arita died at the scene, while the six surviving victims were treated at hospitals in Maryland and Virginia.
Author note: Last updated Tuesday, April 28, 2026.