“He just parked his car and people heard three shots...”

Police will only say they responded to a report of shots fired at Liberty Towers and found 29-year-old Tracey Hankins, Junior lying in the parking lot suffering from trauma to the upper torso, but word has spread of an apparent ambush.

“He just parked his car and people heard three shots and then they called the police,” a resident told us who did not wish to be identified, “The police came. They performed CPR, and I guess he was pronounced dead at the hospital.”

Anthony Bushrod had no idea it was a shooting that had caused all of the commotion outside his building around 10 o’clock on Saturday night.

“I heard a boom, and I was up in my apartment,” Bushrod told us, “I heard all the sirens and the helicopter and I didn’t know what happened. I didn’t come out to see what happened.”

He also had no idea the victim was his nephew.

“He’s a very good guy,” said Bushrod, “It’s just that it’s hard to believe that happened to him, right? Because me and his mother don’t see each other, because she works all the time. But she’s a good person. He’s a very nice guy. Always helping people out, and I’m going to miss him.”

It’s a point not lost upon others living in the complex who knew Hankins as the friendly face often greeting them as they entered the front door.

“He was a very nice guy. Always ready to help. Every time somebody came into the lobby, he would be ready to come and help,” recalled a resident, “Sometimes, I heard, ‘Are you okay? Is everything okay?’ He even use to ask my mother, ‘How is your back? Is your back okay?’ and stuff like that so we were very, very shocked and surprised to see that, you know?”

If you have any information you’re asked to call 410-307-2020 and you can call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.