WASHINGTON — One firefighter has died after three people were shot in Prince George’s County on Friday night.
Firefighter and paramedic John Ulmschneider died from his injuries at a local hospital.
The other firefighter, 19-year-old Kevin Swain, was shot four times, according to a press release Saturday morning. He was flown to the shock trauma center in Baltimore, where he underwent a successful surgery and is expected to survive. He is listed in “serious but stable condition.”
Two volunteer firefighters on the scene also suffered minor injuries while seeking cover during the shooting. They were treated and released from the hospital.
A third individual on the scene, not a firefighter, suffered from minor injuries after being shot as well.
Prince George’s County police Chief Hank Stawinski said that crews were responding to an emergency call at a home on Sharon Road in Temple Hills at around 7:30 p.m.
Stawinski says the call was a “welfare check” call, meaning that a concerned family member asked for crews to check in on the house resident. When crews arrived, the resident did not respond. The firefighters made the decision to enter the home, at which point the resident opened fire. The third shooting victim is believed to be the person who made the call. The shooter is now in police custody.
Ulmschneider, 37, was a 13-year veteran of the Prince George’s County Fire Department. He was also a husband and a father of a 2-year-old, according to Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker.
A press release Saturday indicates that Swain is a member of the Sykesville-Freedom District and Morningside Volunteer Fire Departments. Swain, who is from Sykesville, was surrounded by members of the firefighting community as he was taken into surgery Friday.
The shooting comes less than a month after a Prince George’s County police officer was killed during an unprovoked attack on a district police station in Landover, Maryland.
Here is a map detailing the location of the shooting.
We have lowered our Prince Georges County Flag in honor of Firefighter/Paramedic John Ulmschneider. @PGFDNEWS pic.twitter.com/wF5YKgIUGz
— MDMEMA (@MDMEMA) April 16, 2016
