BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore police released body camera footage Thursday showing scenes from a deadly standoff at an armed man’s home as well as images of another suspect who was wounded after pointing a pistol at an officer during a melee in the city’s adult entertainment zone.
The two police shootings, one of them fatal, occurred within a few days of each other earlier this month. The armed man who was killed during the six-hour standoff was the fourth fatal shooting by Baltimore police so far this year.
The standoff at a northeast Baltimore home resulted in the shooting death of Marcus Martin, who police said was armed with a shotgun and had other firearms in the home, including one he apparently built himself. Officers were called to the home for a report of an armed person and were met at the front door by the 40-year-old man’s wife and daughter.
“The caller indicated that a male in the house was armed, assaulted her daughter, and was having a behavioral crisis,” said Deputy Commissioner Brian Nadeau. The man’s 14-year-old son later also left the home, leaving the man alone inside as officers tried to get him to come out with his hands up.
Released footage shows a hostage negotiator inside an armored vehicle encouraging Martin to leave the home. After getting the home’s lights cut off, the negotiator said: “Marcus, you want the lights on? If you throw one of the guns out we’ll turn the lights back on.” The man did not comply and police allege he threatened to shoot anyone who approached.
Another body worn camera shows officers operating a robot, which they were unsuccessfully trying to maneuver inside the property. Martin can be heard yelling from inside the small brick house. Police say he shot the robot with a rifle from the front door, prompting a police sniper, Officer Jeffery Archambault, to hit Martin with one shot.
Archambault, who is white, is assigned to force’s SWAT team and has served in the city’s police department since 1997. He was placed on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated. Martin, who was Black, was treated by a medic at the scene but later died.
In a GoFundMe page seeking donations to pay for his funeral expenses, one of Martin’s children wrote that their father “lost his life due to an ongoing mental illness which resulted in the police using excessive force.” The shooting is under investigation.
In the other shooting incident, police video shows a chaotic scene in the adult entertainment area known as The Block. During an escalating fight, a man allegedly pulled out a pistol as multiple officers were on a routine assignment helping business owners close down for the night on the gritty street of strip clubs and adult entertainment parlors a short distance from police headquarters.
Images show a running man turning toward an officer and pointing a pistol in his direction. He was shot by the officer, who fired multiple times, and taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The man was identified as 32-year-old Terrance Tyrone Hillman.
Nadeau alleged that ballistics evidence shows that the suspect at some point tried to fire one of two rounds in the firearm at the time. It’s unclear if this was when he pointed the pistol at the officer during the foot chase or earlier.
Officer Alexandros Haziminas was identified as the policeman who shot his service weapon three times at the suspect. He’s been a city officer since 2014. In a statement, police did not specify the race of the officer or the suspect.
In January 2017, Baltimore entered into a court-enforceable agreement to reform its police department after the U.S. Justice Department discovered longstanding patterns of excessive force, unlawful arrests and discriminatory police practices.
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