Howard County police were called to the 10000 block of American Pharoah Lane around 3:10 p.m. after a 911 caller reported a man banging on the front door, according to a release from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.
The man, armed with a shotgun, fired several shots at the door before entering the home through a window, the release stated.
Body camera footage revealed that officers encountered a female victim on an upper exterior ledge and saw the suspect inside at a window, holding a long gun. Despite multiple commands to drop the weapon, the man refused, prompting two officers to exchange gunfire with him.
After setting up a barricade and failing to establish contact, officers entered the home and found the man wounded. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the attorney general’s office. Several loaded firearms and a knife were discovered near his body.
No one else, including officers and other residents of the home, was injured during the incident. Inside the house, police found “multiple shell casings from an unknown weapon” and additional firearms.
Howard County police stated it is unclear whether the man died from gunfire by officers or from his own weapon. As it is a “suspected police-involved fatal shooting,” the Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division will handle the case.
The attorney general’s office plans to release body camera footage by the end of the month unless doing so would interfere with the investigation. The names of the suspect and the officers involved are expected to be disclosed within two business days.
