Baltimore County Police Officer Shot Outside Station near College Campus

An officer shot outside the Baltimore County Police Station on Walker Avenue near UMBC is in “guarded condition,” police said at a news conference at Maryland Shock Trauma Center on Thursday evening.

Police said that about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, an armed man approached an officer assigned to the Wilkens Precinct in the parking lot and “began to fire upon him.”

Around the time of the officers’ shift change, police said the suspect first entered the precinct and spoke with desk officers. He then left and engaged in conversation with a police officer who was at the gas pumping station in the parking lot, “getting ready to go home from work,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said at the news conference.

“He … walked away and turned back to that officer, brandishing a handgun,“ McCullough said. “He, at that time, fired several shots at that officer.”

Two other police officers in the parking lot returned fire on the suspect, injuring him in the lower body, McCullough said. One of those officers was shot in the firefight. The suspect was also shot and was transported to a local hospital, where he is in critical condition, police said.

McCullough said he did not know how many shots were fired but based on information he had, the chief said it was “very clear” that the shooting was “premeditated.”

He said the suspect has “a limited criminal record” and the investigation would focus on “what motivated this individual to do what they did today.”

Dr. Thomas Scalea, the physician in chief at Shock Trauma, spoke at the news conference outside the hospital, saying he had just finished up surgery on the officer.

“At approximately 3 p.m., we admitted a Baltimore County police officer with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was immediately taken in the operating room. … He is in guarded condition under very close observation,” Scalea said.

“We will react as things happen in the future,” he said.

The officer who was shot, a veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department of about six years, was transported within four minutes of the shooting, McCullough said, pointing to the quick response of the Baltimore County Fire Department. The officer was wearing a protective vest at the time of the shooting, he said.

McCullough said security should be enhanced at police facilities to prevent future incidents. “Ironically,” the chief said, the planned new Wilkens Precinct building will have greater security measures.

Earlier Thursday, individuals were being asked to stay away from the area, including Interstate 695 and 95, and around the Catonsville/ Arbutus area while police were investigating.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, an alert on UMBC’s website said police were investigating a shooting at a police station near campus. UMBC later updated its website to state that a suspect was taken into custody.

The school did not immediately return requests for comment.

“Today has been a very unusual day for me, a dark day I would say.” Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said at Shock Trauma. “It’s been quite an experience.”

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