July 12, 1963 - Three Maryland National Guardsmen were shot early today in downtown Cambridge as a running gun battle between whites and Negroes erupted in the city’s Negro section, shortly after the wounding of two white civilians and a 12-year-old white boy. The uniformed Guardsmen, not immediately identified, were driving home in a civilian car near the Negro section when bullets hit their car. One of the Guardsmen was struck in the neck and shoulder, the most serious injury of the three. The shooting occurred at 1 a.m., an hour after more than 400 Guardsmen were released from a five-hour alert. At the same time, whites repeatedly drove cars through the Negro section firing at Negroes with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. The Negroes returned fire, breaking windows and hitting buildings across the street. Shortly before midnight last night, two white men were wounded by shotgun fire from the Negro section as they sat on the porch of a home. A 12-year-old boy with them was also wounded.
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