On Nov. 12, Brian Bruce, 41 accepted a plea agreement in Baltimore City Circuit Court before Judge Kimberly McBride, following a Dec. 29, 2024 shootout involving multiple vehicles in Southwest Baltimore.
Bruce pleaded guilty to using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, receiving an 18-year sentence suspending all but five years, without the possibility of parole. Upon release he will be required to register as a gun offender and serve three years of supervised probation.
According to charging documents, Baltimore police responded to the 1600 block of Inverness Avenue shortly after midnight on Dec. 29, 2024, following reports of gunfire.
While on scene officers recovered multiple 9mm and .40-caliber shell casings and observed damage to several vehicles.
Surveillance footage captured an exchange of gunfire involving multiple vehicles, including a 2023 silver Toyota Tacoma allegedly driven by Bruce. Investigators later located a pickup truck abandoned along MD-295 with seven bullet holes.
A firearm recovered during Bruce’s March 2025 arrest in an unrelated incident was also potentially linked to shell casings recovered from the shooting scene.
During Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors explained that the plea offer fell below sentencing guidelines because surveillance footage showed both parties, Bruce and the victim, repeatedly pursuing one another. Thus, making it difficult to determine who fired first.
Prosecutors also told the court that the shooting victim did not wish to proceed with trial, although the reason was not disclosed.
Bruce’s defense attorney, Christopher O’Meara, requested additional credit toward his sentence, arguing that Bruce had been in custody long before his case moved forward. Judge McBride agreed to backdate the sentence’s start to Feb. 3, 2026.
Following the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed the remaining charges, including attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault.
