The man accused of shooting someone last week inside an LA Fitness in Prince George’s County, Maryland, made his first appearance in court Friday afternoon, where a judge ordered him held without bond.
Nelson Ballard III, 24, faces a long list of charges, including attempted murder, in connection to a shooting last Thursday that happened on the gym’s basketball court.
That evening at approximately 8:30 p.m., police said they responded to the LA fitness location on Ruby Lockhart Boulevard in Glenarden, where they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
A witness told police the shooting happened after Ballard and a 43-year-old man got into a fight over a call made during a basketball game. According to charging documents, a woman told police she tried to break it up, but Ballard walked away, grabbed his bag, returned and said, “I got something for you.”
That’s when Ballard is accused of pulling out a gun and opening fire.
Police said the shooting was captured on surveillance video from inside the gym. Dozens of people started running for safety when shots rang out. Police recovered four shell casings, as well as one bullet.
At the moment, Ballard is charged with attempted murder, but the man, who has not been identified, remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition but still needs help from a machine to breathe.
It’s not clear where Ballard lives. Police announced him as a Landover resident, but court documents list two different addresses in D.C.
Police ask anyone with information relevant to this investigation to call their Gun Crimes Unit at 301-772-8960.
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