CROFTON, Md. — A man is dead and an Anne Arundel County Police officer is the hospital in serious condition after a 9-1-1 call led to a physical fight, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department (AACOPD).
The police officer fatally shot the man with his department-issued firearm, police said. AACOPD has not released the names of the officer or the man.
The officer was wearing a body camera, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Independent Investigation Unit. That footage will be released within the next 14 days as long as there are no technical difficulties and the family has had time to see it, the spokesperson said.
Officers were called for a report of family violence to the 900 block of Danville Court in Crofton at around 4 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, police said. A woman called 9-1-1 and said her adult son had assaulted her and was not letting her leave the home, according to AACOPD.
When police arrived, officers said the door was locked with no answer. The woman, who was still on the phone, said she could hear the officers and asked them to come inside because she could not get to the front door, AACOPD said.
The officers entered the home and found a locked bedroom on the third floor, with the woman and her adult son inside, police said. The officers said they told the son, who was an adult, to get on the ground and he complied. But when they went to handcuff the son, officers said the son began to fight with them.
Police said they deployed a taser during the struggle, but that it was ineffective. During the fight, one of the officers was injured and that same officer fatally shot the son. The man was pronounced dead. The officer was transported to an area trauma center in serious condition.
Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad expressed her condolences to everyone affected.
“Anytime there’s a loss of life, obviously we all feel it. I ask that we keep this family lifted in prayer in addition to our injured officer," Awad said.
Awad also tied the incident to a string of recent tragedies across the state.
"We’ll be burying three firefighters here this week as well, in addition to an elected official in the city of Hyattsville," Awad said. "It’s just a very traumatic time.”
Maryland State Police and investigators with the Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Unit were at the scene on Sunday to collect evidence, identify any witnesses and gather information.
This response is accordance with a law passed in October 2021 that puts state police and independent investigators in charge of investigating police shootings where a civilian is severely injured or killed. Independent investigators will then turn their findings over to the local state's attorney's office to decide possible criminal charges.