Baltimore County police officer working security detail critically shoots driver after being hit by vehicle
Baltimore County MD October 30 2018
Baltimore County police officer working security at a Parkville strip mall was hit by an SUV in the mall’s parking lot Monday night.
The officer fired shots at the driver, who is listed in grave condition at Sinai Hospital, according to Shawn Vinson, a spokesman for the department.
Vinson said the officer went into the parking lot of the Parkway Crossing shopping center in the 2300 block of Cleanleigh Drive around 8:30 p.m., after a 911 call reported a black SUV driving erratically in the parking lot near the mall’s ShopRite. The officer stopped the driver near the grocery store’s entrance and the driver opened the door.
“At some point the driver accelerated the SUV,” Vinson said, either dragging the officer or hitting him. The officer shot at the driver with his service weapon, striking him. The officer was then hit by an oncoming car as well as the SUV.
The SUV crashed into another car in the parking lot before coming to rest close by. It remained in the parking lot Monday night, a mangled wreck. The officer was taken to Shock Trauma and is expected to survive.
Because the officer was working secondary employment at the time of the incident, he was not wearing a body camera.
Baltimore County police officers have previously been involved in shootings while working as security guards. Last year, an off-duty police officer fatally shot a man suspected of shoplifting detergent in Catonsville. That incident prompted Baltimore County officials to consider requiring officers who moonlight as security guards to wear their body cameras.
About an hour after the shooting Monday, officers took photos and collected evidence in the shadow of the ShopRite as shoppers waited to access their cars, which had become part of a crime scene. One was Mike Martin, who said he had seen the officer on the ground after being hit by the car and heard a few shots being fired.
Officers collect evidence at the scene where a Baltimore County officer was hit by an SUV and shot the driver, who is in grave condition. (Christina Tkacik / Baltimore Sun)
The man who had been driving the white car — which struck the police officer earlier — surveyed the damage to his car.
“I’m glad everyone survived,” he said. He declined to give his name, saying police had directed him not to talk to the media.
“It’s getting worse,” said Andrea Norris, who had gone to the ShopRite hoping to buy some salad, but found the store was now closed because of the crime scene. Days earlier, she said, an 18-year-old boy had been shot close by. “I can’t even go to the parking lot,” she said.
Baltimore Sun
