02/07/2020
Two police officers shot a man who reportedly pulled a gun on them while experiencing a behavioral crisis in Northeast Baltimore before dawn Wednesday morning, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
The man was critically injured in the shooting, which happened about 3:25 a.m., after police were called to a home in the 5800 block of Falkirk Road — a quiet, residential, tree-lined street near Huber Memorial Church. The call came from the homeowner, a relative of the man, police said.
The relative led officers to the man, who pulled a gun on them, police said, prompting them to shoot him “multiple times,” Harrison said. When officers searched the man, they found a second gun, the police commissioner said. Officials have not yet seen the body camera footage.
The man was taken to a hospital and was last listed in critical condition, officials said. His name was not released. Neither officer was injured, and their names also were not released. A person at the home where the shooting occurred declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.
Amid the renewed, nationwide demonstrations against police violence following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, advocates for improved social services said the shooting is the latest example of why people in mental distress need medical help, not a police response.
Money should be re-allocated from the police budget, they say, to reinvest in other resources, including alternative responses for behavioral health crises.
Sergio España, ACLU of Maryland’s director of engagement and mobilization, said a “disturbingly familiar pattern” has emerged in Maryland, “where officers called to assist someone in mental distress instead trigger a crisis, failing to see the person’s humanity and shooting instead of helping.”
Nearly 40% of the 109 people killed by police in Maryland between 2010 and 2014 “presented in a way that suggested a possible medical or mental health issue, disability, substance use or similar issue,” according to a 2015 study released by the ACLU of Maryland.
“This latest incident further points out how Baltimore’s over-dependence on police is setting them up to fail, and costing unnecessary lives,” Espa