By E.B. FURGURSON III
The Capital
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An Anne Arundel County police officer is on administrative leave after he was involved in the shooting death of a man accused of threatening an officer, then stealing a Baltimore County police cruiser early yesterday morning.
The Anne Arundel officer is a 19-year veteran who works in the Northern District. Three Baltimore County officers involved in the shooting are also on administrative leave.
“Why they discharged their weapons and whether the suspect was out of the vehicle is all part of the ongoing investigation,” Baltimore City police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Police did not release the name of the deceased following the 3:12 a.m. shooting. The actions culminating in the shooting started an hour earlier in Baltimore County, crossed into Anne Arundel County and ended in Baltimore City.
According to a report, Baltimore County police tried to pull over a car that refused to stop. The vehicle crashed at the intersection of the Baltimore Beltway and Interstate 95. When a Baltimore County officer pulled up to the accident scene, the suspect began to fight with the officer and threatened him, saying he had a gun, according to the report.
The suspect then got into the officer’s car and sped off.
At that point a lookout call went out to all surrounding jurisdictions - including Anne Arundel - for the stolen police car driven by a suspect believed to be armed and dangerous.
The suspect drove out of Baltimore County through Anne Arundel and into Baltimore, where police found the stolen squad car at a Motel 6 on Caton Avenue.
As officers responded to that scene, a dark sport utility vehicle was seen speeding from the area. Police gave chase and pulled that vehicle over in the 3400 block of Annapolis Road.
Police pulled three individuals from the SUV. One of the passengers the jumped back in the SUV and sped off again. He was thought to be the one who had stolen the police car.
He was stopped about two miles away in a shopping center. Officers surrounded the vehicle and fired their weapons, hitting the suspect, according to the report.
The man later died at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Early reports said the suspect had a gun, but only a hammer was found in the vehicle.
Copyright 2012 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.