Source The Frederick News-Post, Md.
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released body camera footage from a 2022 incident in which a man tried to shoot a deputy, who fired back, hitting the man three times.
Last month, Lookman-Khalil Abolajo Bello, 30, of Hagerstown was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Deputy 1st Class Christian Lucente in the early morning hours of March 18, 2022.
At a news conference on the day of the shooting, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said Lucente was not wearing a body camera, The Frederick News-Post reported. At the time, the agency was rolling out the use of cameras and not every deputy had one.
Deputy 1st Class Jessica Dixon, who arrived at the scene of the shooting shortly after Lucente, captured footage of the incident on her body camera.
However, the News-Post reported, Jenkins declined to release that footage while the investigation and prosecution of Bello was underway.
The footage released Tuesday begins with an audio recording of Lucente’s communications with 911 dispatchers as he tried to stop the car Bello was driving. Lucente can be heard telling dispatchers that Bello was going 94 mph in a 65 mph zone and weaving between lanes.
Lucente followed Bello in his patrol car from the interchange of Interstate 270 and Md. 85 to the Kingsbrook neighborhood of Ballenger Creek, where Bello got out of his vehicle and began to flee on foot.
The video footage picks up when Dixon arrives at the scene in her own patrol vehicle and joins Lucente in chasing Bello.
Approximately 35 seconds after Dixon’s video starts, several gunshots can be heard. Both deputies alert dispatchers over the radio that shots have been fired.
Dixon can be seen drawing her service weapon and running toward the area of the shots while yelling, “Sheriff’s Office!” Bello can be heard responding, “I’m hit. I’m down.”
Lucente then appears in the frame standing behind a car with his gun also drawn. Both deputies can be heard telling Bello multiple times to show his hands, lie on his stomach and back away from his gun.
Lucente can be seen using his radio to tell dispatchers that he was not hit and that he is OK. He tells dispatchers to “get EMS started” and requests the Maryland State Police Trooper 3 helicopter.
The deputies can be seen approaching Bello, flipping him onto his stomach and cuffing his hands behind his back. Lucente asks Bello where he was shot, to which Bello replies, “my face and my leg.”
While standing over Bello, Lucente can be heard saying: “Why did you do that? C’mon, man, I didn’t want to have to shoot you.”
The video ends when additional officers arrive on the scene. One leads Lucente away from Bello, while others assist Dixon in cutting the clothes and backpack off of the wounded man.
Less than a month after the shooting, the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office ruled that Lucente was justified in his use of deadly force and he was cleared to return to work.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Katie Robine confirmed that both Lucente and Dixon still work for the agency.
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