A man was killed by police in Crofton, Maryland, after seriously injuring an officer during a response to a domestic dispute where the man assaulted his mother.
Anne Arundel County police say the man refused to leave after assaulting his mother around 4 a.m. on the 900 block of Danville court.
After police arrived, the mother told the 911 operator that she couldn’t get to the front door, according to the department’s spokesperson, Jacklyn Davis.
“The front door was locked and there was no answer at the door,” Davis said.
So officers entered the house and went up to the third floor.
The bedroom door was locked but after entering police said they found both the mother and her son. The son listened to officers’ orders to get on the ground, but Davis said when they tried to handcuff the son, he began fighting.
A taser was deployed but Davis said it was “ineffective.”
Somehow, an officer was injured in the scuffle; he was brought to a trauma center.
The same officer who was injured shot and killed the son, Davis said. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
As is the case with officer involved shootings in Maryland, the office of attorney general’s independent investigation division with review the shooting in partnership with state police. Under state law, the bodycam footage will also be released within 14 days as long as there aren’t technical difficulties and the family has time to watch.
Anne Arundel Police Chief Amal Awad said the department is cooperating with the investigation.
“These are certainly tough calls that we respond to,” Awad said. “And officers are thrust into situations where they have to make critical decisions, oftentimes very split second decisions that they have to live with for the rest of their lives.”
The identities of the injured officer and the suspect haven’t been released yet.
Awad also spoke about recent deaths of first responders, including officers in New York and firefighters in Baltimore.
“There are no boundaries,” Awad said. “When one of us falls, we all rise. We all feel it.”
WTOP’s Acacia James contributed to this report.
