Manhunt underway for gunmen who shot 2 Md. detectives
GLEN BURNIE, Md. Feb 7 2020— A manhunt is underway for a gunman police say shot two Anne Arundel County officers overnight as they were chasing a person of interest in a homicide case.
Police spokeswoman Sgt. Jacklyn Davis said the officers were attempting to conduct a traffic stop related to an investigation into a man found dead inside a Glen Burnie home.
“Come in and end this lunacy before another person gets hurt,” police Chief Timothy Altomare said, speaking directly to the suspect at a press conference the police department held Thursday morning.
“Every minute you stretch this out it makes it more dangerous for my cops and thus makes it more dangerous to you,” Altomare said.
Davis said an officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop with a person of interest in the case, but the person fired and struck the officer before fleeing the scene.
Davis said the officer was struck on the Anne Arundel County/Baltimore City line on Fort Smallwood Road near a Royal Farms gas station, where police could be seen surveying the scene Thursday.
As police continued to pursue the man, Davis said, he was chased into the Stoney Beach town house community in Anne Arundel County where he shot a second officer.
Both officers were taken to the hospital.
Detective Scott Ballard is in critical but stable condition. Ballard is a 22-year veteran and worked on the fugitive apprehension team. Detective Ian Preece is in stable condition and is a 13-year veteran that is assigned to the homeland security investigations team, which also handles gang investigations in the county.
One officer sustained a life threatening injury last night but “fantastic” emergency care mitigated the situation, Altomare said. “He has remarkable courage. I’m very proud of him.”
Police said there are 50 police personnel surveying the area where the second officer was shot in the Stoney Beach town house community.
The suspect remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous, Davis said. She said he is believed to be on foot in Stoney Beach. Police have recovered his vehicle, she added.
Police are looking for a 6-foot, skinny white male possibly with neck or face tattoos, Davis said.
“If you see something in your yard, give us a call,” she said. “You’ll see we have 50 officers in the area right now, so you will see us. You will see our canines. You may see a helicopter flying low sometime soon. Stay in your houses. Give us a call.”
Officers swarmed the area of Greenland Beach at Fort Smallwood Road in Stoney Beach Thursday morning with barking dogs, guns and cars looking for the suspect.
During a tense 20 minutes, at least 10 officers filed into the building above a laundromat and corner store, C-Mart Tobacco. They banged on a door several times, shouting “County police open up!” at least six times.
They emerged with no suspect. And officers reopened the roads.
County Executive Steuart Pittman said at the press conference, “Everything humanely possible will be done to hunt down the man that did this.”
In Annapolis, state Senate President Bill Ferguson acknowledged the shooting of the two Anne Arundel County police officers, and asked senators to keep them and their families in their thoughts. “This gun violence is striking to close to home everywhere,” said Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat.
Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted that all Marylanders are praying for the officers.
“We have absolutely no tolerance for the violence committed against two Anne Arundel County Police detectives last night. These brave officers are now in stable condition, and all Marylanders are praying for their full and speedy recovery.”
The investigation started in Glen Burnie, where homicide detectives were called around 5 p.m. Wednesday to the 600 block of Newfield Road for a man found dead in his home. Davis said the victim showed “upper body trauma.”
The man’s neighbor Layton “Bud” Jones said he was lounging in his blue chair and chatting with his wife in the brick back room of his house Wednesday. The two had just finished eating around 2 p.m. when over the hum of the space heater they heard their next door neighbor’s dog barking and saw him standing at the door.
The back door to the neighbor’s house had been open all day and the car was gone. Jones figured his friend had just been in a hurry while leaving for work.
Jones, a 40-year Glen Burnie resident, said those living in the cul-de-sac are tight-knit. Nobody hesitates to help one another out, he said.
So when Rocky wouldn’t stop barking, Jones didn’t think twice about letting him out.
“I just thought he needed to go to the bathroom,” Jones said.
The only thing out of the ordinary was paper scattered on the floor of the home, Jones said. But he just assumed his neighbor got irritated and threw them on the ground. The 77-year-old said he’s never heard of anything like this happening in the neighborhood.
“We’re not blood related but we’re tight like a family,” Jones said.
He was surprised to find out through news reports that his neighbor was killed. Jones hadn’t heard or seen anything unusual. But being only a few short miles from the airport, Jones said the noise from a gunshot could easily be masked by a low-flying plane.
“When I was told what happened, my heart started to race,” Jones said. “I was inside that home. He could’ve shot me.” Police have not confirmed if the victim was shot.
Jones said his neighbor has been living in the home with another roommate for about five years. He described him as quiet, peaceful and a “good” neighbor. The man rarely had people over, Jones said. The victim’s name has not been released by authorities.
The man would never hesitate to help Jones, he said, and often would puff a cigarette and pace nervously back and forth outside the home. Jones said he nicknamed him “pacer” because of it.
Jones said the police presence “looked like gangbusters” since they found the man inside the home. By 8 a.m. Thursday morning, two police cars were still stationed outside the taped off home.
