Mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon was at a West Baltimore lounge for a meet-and-greet event last night when gunfire erupted on the street outside, leaving two men wounded.

A source told The Brew that Dixon left Maceo’s Bar and Lounge early after word of the incident spread inside the venue. The former Baltimore mayor later confirmed the account to this website.

“I was there for 10 minutes talking when I was told about it,” Dixon said, explaining that she was with a staffer at the time. “We got out of there. I saw one of the guys laying out on Monroe Street.”

Baltimore Police said they responded at about 8:46 p.m. to the intersection of Monroe and Walbrook Avenue in response to a ShotSpotter alert. They found a 33-year-old male and a 50-year-old male suffering from gunshot wounds.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the incident had occurred in the 1900 block of North Monroe Street,” police said in a news release.

Violence Strikes

Dixon said she had been speaking about crime and guns when the incident occurred.

“This is what the people who live there and local business people have to put up with,” Dixon said.

The source said Dixon had been responding to questions from the crowd about crime and discussing the source of guns in the city when the incident occurred.

“People were in the lounge watching Monday Night football and listening to music,” she told The Brew.

Dixon later posted about the incident on social media, framing it as supporting one of her campaign talking points that, despite a drop in homicides in Baltimore this year, citizens “do not feel safe.”

“It’s heartbreaking to watch another Mother’s child become a victim of Baltimore City’s crime,” she wrote.