One man is dead after getting out of his vehicle during a traffic stop in Silver Spring, Maryland, and opening fire on officers Wednesday morning, police said.
Montgomery County police officers stopped the vehicle at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Dartmouth Avenue because it matched the description they had from an off-duty officer for a vehicle and suspect wanted in a 4:15 a.m. shooting of a man in the 900 block of Bonifant Street. The officer heard the shots on Bonifant Street, responded and relayed the information on the suspect and vehicle to officers on duty.
“Officers followed that white Mercedes Benz on Wayne Avenue, conducted a traffic stop by Wayne and Dartmouth Street. At which point, an individual exited the vehicle with a handgun and began firing upon the officers who had stopped the vehicle. Officers returned fire. The individual who was shooting at the officers was struck and has succumbed from his injuries as a result of being shot,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said during a morning news conference.
The intersection of Wayne Avenue and Dartmouth Avenue is a half-mile from Bonifant Street.
None of the four officers involved was wounded.
“The four officers that were involved in this have all been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of this investigation,” Jones said.
Jones said it is not known how many officers fired shots and did not yet have information on where the bullet or bullets struck the suspect.
The victim in the Bonifant Street shooting is hospitalized. Jones said the victim and suspect knew each other.
The identity of the man killed has not been released yet.
Montgomery County police are continuing to investigate what happened on Bonifant Street, but by state law, the investigation into the fatal, police-involved shooting is being handled by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General Independent Investigation Division.
“Currently we have our investigators on scene along with our crime scene techs that are with the Maryland State Police gathering evidence,” said Thomas Lester, a spokesman for the Maryland Office of the Attorney General Independent Investigation Division.
Lester said investigators also are talking with witnesses.
The investigation also will review body camera footage from the officers.
Here is a map of where the two shootings in Silver Spring occurred. (Courtesy Google)
WTOP’s Shayna Estulin reported from Silver Spring.
