Seventeen security officers shot, 2 dead in 7 days
Prince George County MD March 31 2018
Seventeen security officers have been shot on the job this week so far with the latest being two security officers on duty at a Maryland restaurant.
According to police, a customer at a restaurant at National Harbor shot the two security officers after an argument over the bill.
Montana Artis, 21, and Tony Irene Marie Smith, 19, got into an argument over their bill with employees at Cadillac Ranch just before 1 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Two security officers were escorting Artis and Smith out of the restaurant when Artis pulled out a small handgun and fired a shot, hitting both security guards, police said.
One of the security officers ran into the bar area yelling that he had been shot according to a customer.
Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Artis, who is the son of a member of the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office, and Smith were arrested at a nearby hotel. Police said they found a gun in their room.
“Officers were there in a matter of seconds,” Prince George’s County police Cpl. Harry Bomd said. “They found the shooter, apprehended him, took him into custody without further incident.”
Artis has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault and additional charges.
Smith was charged with disorderly conduct and conspiracy after the fact.
Of the other fifteen security officers shot during the past seven days, two have died from their wounds and four have life threatening injuries.
At this time, we also have confirmed that only three of the security officers shot were known to be armed.
The rise in security officer shootings and deadly force incidents involving private security correlates with two recent studies by the Associated Press and the Reuters News Network that shows that the rise of armed security has drastically risen just in the past three years and that private security personnel are now being used more often in place of law enforcement.