BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Police Department Commissioner Michael Harrison said on Tuesday that officers are following “promising leads” after a person shot multiple times at police officers the night before and at least one officer returned fire.
Harrison said detectives are using technology and talking with community members to help try to find witnesses to the shooting.
“This was a very, very visible scene where we believe people were out there and know what happened,” he said.
The police commissioner provided the update after speaking to the department’s newest recruits that graduated from the academy. During his speech to 25 of the now-sworn Baltimore officers, Harrison reminded them to be prepared to put their lives on the line and to act honorably as the “country is watching.”
Around 8:40 p.m. Monday night, officers were called to the 2500 block of Edmondson Ave. for a ShotSpotter alert. When officers tried to pull a vehicle over, an occupant fired and fled. The driver headed down West Lafayette Avenue, stopping at the West Lafayette Avenue bridge and got out of the car and started shooting at officers, police said, striking a patrol car multiple times. At least one officer returned fire but the vehicle fled, the department said.
An officer was transported to Shock Trauma, police said, as a “precautionary measure.”
Harrison said he is thankful that nobody was hurt and warned that those involved in the incident will be “investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
“It speaks to the brazenness of today’s violent offender, firing at our officers,” the commissioner said. “But our officers continue to come to work every day to show bravery and professionalism, which they did last night.”
Shortly after the shooting, police were called to an area hospital where a gunshot victim said he was shot near the 2500 block of Edmondson Ave. where the incident started. And earlier in the day, a 22-year-old man was fatally shot in the same block.
Harrison said the department is working to determine whether any of the incidents are connected.
Monday’s incident comes on the heels of a violent weekend across the city that left three people dead and more than a dozen shot in various incidents.
Mike Mancuso, president of the Baltimore Police Union Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3, criticized the commissioner in a tweet earlier Tuesday saying that his crime plan is not working.
“Of course crime is down in some categories; the pandemic has forced people off the streets,” the union president said. “But COVID is not a crime plan & will not protect our citizens!”
The police commissioner declined to address the comments, saying it would be “immature” and “irresponsible” for him to say anything when Mancuso was not present to defend himself.
———
©2020 The Baltimore Sun
Visit The Baltimore Sun at www.baltimoresun.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
