A handcuffed man was shot and killed by a police officer inside a cruiser Monday night in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Around 8 p.m., Prince George’s County police said they received report of a man who had struck several vehicles starting in the Silver Hill, Maryland, area. They found the man on St. Barnabas Road, near Winston Street, in Temple Hills.
Police believed the man was under the influence and said they smelled what they believed to be PCP, spokeswoman Christina Cotterman said during a news conference broadcast by WUSA9.
An initial investigation found that police handcuffed the man with his arms behind him and put him in the front passenger seat of a cruiser with the seat belt on while they waited for a drug recognition expert to give them guidance. An officer then got into the driver seat of the cruiser.
Two independent witnesses told police that they either saw or heard a struggle coming from the cruiser, and they heard loud bangs. The man was struck multiple times with the officer’s duty weapon.
Police performed lifesaving measures on the man before he was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
The shooting was not caught on body-worn camera as the officer involved in the shooting was not wearing one, Cotterman said. Police are looking for other cameras in the area that may have caught what happened.
Cotterman added that it was normal to put a suspect in the front seat of the cruiser, and suspects are typically transported in the front seat for processing at the county’s Department of Corrections.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave, per Prince George’s County police procedure, and the officer is expected to be identified Tuesday.
Police have not yet released the identity of the man who was killed.
Below is the area where it happened.
