A Baltimore County police officer's weapon discharged as he struggled with a prisoner receiving treatment at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson on Wednesday, police said.
The officer was guarding a prisoner arrested in connection with a burglary who was receiving medical treatment in the hospital's emergency room, according to police.
Police said an altercation broke out after hospital workers discovered the prisoner was hiding a needle in his clothing and the man grabbed a hospital staff member. The officer intervened and was fighting with the prisoner over the officer's weapon when it fired into a wall.
Police said pepper spray was used on the prisoner but that he was not subdued until additional officers arrived.
No injuries were reported, police said. The incident, which occurred about 2:30 p.m., remains under investigation.
The hospital stopped accepting new patients to the emergency department for several hours while police investigated, said Mary Lynn Carver, a spokeswoman with University of Maryland Medical System, in an email. The department was reopened about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Carver said the rest of the hospital was unaffected and remained open to patients and visitors.
This is the second time this month that a Baltimore County officer's weapon was discharged. Early Saturday morning, Officer Mark Worden fired at 16-year-old Antonio Rashad Green, who police say tried to back over the officer in a stolen minivan in Towson. Green was not injured; Worden was taken to Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries and released the same day.
jkanderson@baltsun.com
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The officer was guarding a prisoner arrested in connection with a burglary who was receiving medical treatment in the hospital's emergency room, according to police.
Police said pepper spray was used on the prisoner but that he was not subdued until additional officers arrived.
No injuries were reported, police said. The incident, which occurred about 2:30 p.m., remains under investigation.
The hospital stopped accepting new patients to the emergency department for several hours while police investigated, said Mary Lynn Carver, a spokeswoman with University of Maryland Medical System, in an email. The department was reopened about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Carver said the rest of the hospital was unaffected and remained open to patients and visitors.
This is the second time this month that a Baltimore County officer's weapon was discharged. Early Saturday morning, Officer Mark Worden fired at 16-year-old Antonio Rashad Green, who police say tried to back over the officer in a stolen minivan in Towson. Green was not injured; Worden was taken to Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries and released the same day.
jkanderson@baltsun.com
Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts
