Baltimore City Police fatally shot an unidentified suspect believed to be armed Monday night after a chase and struggle, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at a late-night news conference.
Worley said that around 9:15 p.m., officers were patrolling the area of North Stricker Street and saw a young man who they believed to be armed. He exhibited what the department calls “characteristics of an armed person,” the police commissioner said at a media staging area at West Baltimore at South Gilmor streets in the Franklin Square neighborhood in Central Southwest.
“There’s any number of things that they could have seen that would have alerted them that the individual was armed,” Worley said.
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When officers went to engage him, the suspect took off running. Officers gave chase and when they caught up to the suspect, there was a brief struggle at which point they saw a weapon in his hand, Worley said. Other officers got out of the car and engaged the young man, opening fire and shooting him, the commissioner said. He fell to the ground and officers immediately rendered aid, Worley said, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said they found a gun at the scene but it has not been fully examined. They are unaware of the type of gun or whether it had been modified.
Worley said he believes three officers fired their guns but it is unknown how many times. The department has activated its critical incident recording policy and is working with the Office of the Attorney General on the investigation, he said.
“None of us wish to ever be here for a situation like this,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “I want to implore any and everyone who may be in a similar situation to put down the guns. There’s nothing good that’s going to come out of it for you or your family. We have to have an understanding that there is a better way, and we are going to continue to provide better pathways for everybody in the city. But I implore people to understand that gunplay is not the way that anyone has to go in the city of Baltimore.”
No officers or other community members were injured, Scott said. As with every police-involved shooting, Scott said, “we will go through this bit by bit.”
There will be a neighborhood response from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, Scott said, acknowledging the community’s need to heal.