The Baltimore Police Department on Thursday morning announced that it had arrested a 16 year-old and charged him with first-degree murder in the case of Deanta Dorsey, an Edmondson-Westside High School sophomore who was fatally shot outside a nearby Popeyes in broad daylight last month, along with four others who were wounded.

On Jan. 4, the 16-year-old male “shot into a group of students,” police said, killing Dorsey and wounding two 17-year-old males and two 18-year-old males, police said. Police made the arrest on Wednesday, and detectives are now handling the investigation.

In the wake of the shooting, Dorsey’s parents and family members, represented by their attorney Thiru Vignarajah, held a news conference decrying the Edmondson Village Shopping Center as a lawless open-air drug market and epicenter of violence. Dorsey, who was known as “Dink,” was described as a quiet child who kept to himself.

Vignarajah released a statement on the family’s behalf expressing relief about the arrest

Vignarajah said the fact that a 16-year-old is charged with first-degree murder “only amplifies the tragedy of this unspeakable situation.”

”Yesterday’s arrest brings us one small step closer to getting justice for our beloved Deanta and the four other children victimized in this massing shooting,” Vignarajah said. “We will not rest until all of those involved in Deanta’s murder are held accountable, and we remain grateful for the continued hard work of the detectives on this case.

”We thank the community for continuing to keep us and the families of the other four children in their prayers.”

On Saturday, Mayor Brandon Scott released a statement saying the “hurt, anguish, and sorrow” he felt on the day of the mass shooting have stayed with him.

“My hope is that the great investigative work done by the Baltimore Police Department will bring semblance of closure,” he said. “But there are no winners here. Somewhere down the line, we failed these young people as a community.”

The mayor called on the entire city to help keep children safe from violence, saying “that work must be done by all of us, not just some of us with others sitting on the sidelines, refusing to get involved.”

bconarck@thebaltimorebanner.com