Baltimore resident’s close call with stray bullet sparks safety concerns

(WBFF) — As Baltimoreans rang in 2026, one Federal Hill resident experienced a terrifying incident.

“I got up to go to the bathroom,” Cortez said, when a bullet fired into his Federal Hill bathroom window. “I hear the pop and glass hits my face.”

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Upon inspection, Cortez discovered a bullet-sized hole in both his window and wall. A nearby doorbell camera captured the sound of two gunshots at the exact time Cortez said it happened. “It’s like five inches from my face, you know. If I’m standing in a different spot…” he said.

Baltimore police responded to the incident, classifying it as a destruction of property, with no reports of a shooting in the area. However, police also responded to a local hospital for a walk-in shooting victim shortly after, a little over a mile away.

Cortez, like many Federal Hill residents, is now reconsidering the area. “I was always told this was one of the nicer areas. And I moved here and it’s just gone down and gone down. And now it’s to the point that, I don’t want to raise my family here,” he said.

Jen Covino, chair of the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, echoed these concerns. “Here in Federal Hill, our crime rate per thousand residents for the past year 2025 was 34% higher than the citywide average in Baltimore,” Covino said. “And I think that’s an issue we want to address here in 2026.”

Reflecting on the incident, Cortez considered the narrow margin by which he avoided injury. “I’m going about my day. And the difference of a couple of inches and I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Despite police reports, Cortez maintained that the bullet remains lodged in his wall.