By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 10:30 AM

A gang of six armed men kidnapped two teenage brothers from a home near Baltimore yesterday, and Maryland State Police have issued an Amber Alert as the search for them continues.

A police news release said Sterling Blackwell, 15, and Stephon Blackwell, 16, were taken from their home in the 600 block of Plymouth Road in Catonsville around 11 a.m. yesterday morning.

Cpl. Mike Hill, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department, said the abduction followed a home invasion in which the armed men broke into the house at around 3 a.m. and bound the hands of 10 people who were inside at the time.

The Blackwell brothers lived in the house with their mother. The others at the residence were friends and relatives who were regular guests, Hill said.

It is not clear what happened over the next eight hours, but Hill said no one was injured and apparently no property was taken. Hill said investigators have not established a motive for the abduction.

Around 11 a.m., the men left the house with the two teenagers, taking them away in a black BMW 645 that belonged to one of the people in the house. On the way out, one of the gunmen fired a shot at a relative of the teenagers who happened to be driving by at the time, Hill said.

Police received multiple calls -- from neighbors who heard the shots and asked police to check on the residence, and from the mother, who had apparently managed to unbind her hands.

When police arrived, Hill said, several of the people were still tied up.

Police found the BMW last night in Baltimore, but are still looking for the gray Suburban SUV that the gunmen drove to the house. So far, Hill said, they have no suspects.

Sterling was described by Maryland State Police as black, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and 150 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans and a green hooded sweatshirt at the time of the abduction.

Stephon was described as black, 5 feet 7 inches tall, and 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt.

Anyone with information is asked to call either 911, or contact the Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020.

The Amber Alert network is a national system used in cases of missing children.