A suspect in the shooting of two Maryland police officers was apprehended on Friday morning, according to officials. Authorities say he was surrounded by law enforcement after escaping from the car he stole from an officer he shot on Thursday evening.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities encircled the suspect in a wooded area near a shopping centre in Fallston after police disabled the stolen car with spike strips, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told reporters at a 1 a.m. news conference on Friday.
“We believe he is armed with at least one rifle,” Gahler said. “It’s not so easy as just walking up and putting him in handcuffs.”
Gahler’s office and Baltimore County police tweeted hours later that the suspect had been apprehended.
Thursday night, during a hunt for 24-year-old David Linthicum, a police officer was shot. According to investigators, Linthicum had injured a different officer while shooting at police the day before.
Interim Friday morning, Baltimore County Police Chief Dennis Delp said that the detective who was injured Thursday evening is in stable condition. Delp did not reveal the number of times the cop was shot, but he did add that he was wearing a ballistic vest.
However, Dr. Thomas Scalea of the Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore said during a news conference that the detective was in stable condition but on life support due to several gunshot wounds to his torso and extremities.
Delp said that Linthicum took the detective’s car following the incident around 9:20 p.m.
Gahler said that Linthicum was isolated in an area where there was no danger to public safety, and that authorities would refrain from using lethal force while attempting an arrest. “We don’t want to be forced into taking this individual’s life,” he said.
Gahler said that police seized a rifle and a handgun from the recovered car after the suspect fled.
The first gunshot happened while police responded to a report about a person in distress. Wednesday afternoon, officers from Baltimore County were sent to a residence on Powers Avenue in Cockeysville, where a family member guided them to the individual in distress, according to a police statement.
During the interaction between the cops and Linthicum, he fired numerous bullets, injuring one officer, according to police spokesperson Joy Stewart. She said the officers did not discharge their firearms throughout that incident.
The wounded officer was transported to a hospital, and authorities stated Wednesday night that he had been discharged and was in excellent spirits.
Linthicum was subsequently recognised by authorities as the shooter suspect.
News reports said that there was a big police presence in the region and helicopters were buzzing above as authorities stopped roads in a community of single-family houses with extensive lawns that backed up to forests on Wednesday. Thursday, officials asked people to remain inside, and numerous schools in the vicinity were shuttered. They said that they would also be closed on Friday, although this was before Linthicum was captured.
As the hunt continued into Thursday evening, homeowners near the Cockeysville residence were instructed to remain inside because Linthicum had been observed in the vicinity.
The second cop, according to officials, was shot and wounded during the hunt for Linthicum.
»Authorities arrests a suspect in the Maryland police officer shooting«