Maryland Deputies Slain in Attack Identified

Feb. 11, 2016
Harford County Sheriff's Deputies Patrick Dailey and Mark Logsdon were killed in a shooting Wednesday that began at the Abingdon Panera.

ABINGDON, Maryland -- Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler identified the two deputies killed in a shooting Wednesday that began at the Abingdon Panera Bread before unfolding in the streets nearby.

Deputy Patrick Dailey was a 30-year veteran of the force, assigned to the court service division, and Deputy Mark Logsdon was a 16-year veteran assigned to the community services division.

Both have been honored for their valor on the job.

"These men are heroes," Gahler said at a Thursday morning briefing.

The 68-year-old suspect, whom officials described as a vagrant, was also killed in the confrontation in Abingdon, a community 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.

The mayhem erupted at a Panera Bread restaurant shortly before noon in the Boulevard at Box Hill shopping center.

Dailey went into the restaurant and approached the suspect, who produced a handgun and shot him "almost immediately," Gahler said.

The suspect was identified as David Brian Evans. Gahler said there were two warrants for Evans' arrest -- a criminal warrant for allegedly assaulting a police officer in Florida and a civil warrant issued in Harford County.

Gahler said he believed Evans targeted one of the deputies inside the Panera "because he was in a police uniform."

Dailey arrived a Panera Bread shortly after a call came in from a citizen at 11:40 a.m. regarding the suspect. Dailey entered the restaurant and approached Evans, who was seated alone at a table. Evans pulled a handgun without warning and shot Dailey in the head, police said.

He then ran from the restaurant toward Parkview at Box Hill, a senior apartment complex.

Just after noon, Deputy Logsdon arrived with other deputies and found Evans sitting in the front seat of a vehicle parked at the apartment complex.

Evans fired multiple shots, striking Logsdon. Deputies, including Logsdon, returned fire, striking Evans.

Dailey was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma by Maryland State Police helicopter. Logsdon was taken by ambulance to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center.

The deputies are believed to be the first in Harford to be killed by gunfire on duty in more than a century.

The incident Wednesday was the first time in 15 years that two Maryland law enforcement officers were killed in a single shooting. Two officers were shot to death in 2001 in a trailer park in Centreville on the Eastern Shore.

In Abingdon on Wednesday, deputies scoured multiple crime scenes for evidence hours after the shooting.

The incident lasted about 15 minutes, officials said. It began when a deputy was shot in the head inside the restaurant in the 3400 block of Merchant Blvd. about 11:45 a.m., officials said.

Gahler said the deputy was responding to a call from the restaurant. He said he was unsure of the nature of the call.

On Thursday, the sister of Evans' ex-wife said that her sister, Elizabeth, alerted police to her ex-husband's presence after spotting him at the restaurant.

The weapon used in the shooting was legally purchased by the suspect in Pennsylvania in 1993, Gahler said.

Dailey was a life member of the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, survived by two children, a girlfriend and his mother.

Logsdon is survived by his wife, three kids and his parents.

Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said Thursday, "Police officers and sheriff's deputies are in harm's way every hour, every second, of their shifts. Both of these deputies have been honored for their bravery on the job in the past and, yesterday, made the ultimate sacrifice for their communities."

On the Senate floor in Annapolis Thursday, a Harford County lawmaker made a heartfelt plea to colleagues to understand the dangers law enforcement officers face.

Sen. Robert Cassilly asked lawmakers to have empathy for the "stress they're under" as officers make routine traffic stops or arrests that can turn deadly.

"They can't take for granted one moment," Cassilly said. "It might be their last encounter."

This story will be updated.

Baltimore Sun Media Group reporters Yvonne Wenger, Ian Duncan, David Anderson, Erika Butler, Colin Campbell, Tim Prudente, Kevin Rector and Bryna Zumer contributed to this article.

Copyright 2016 - The Baltimore Sun

Tribune News Service

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