Detectives believe a Baltimore County police officer was shot and wounded by friendly fire — not by an elderly gunman — in a Parkville home Thursday.
They also believe 76-year-old Robert Uhl Johnson intended to commit "suicide by cop" when he lifted the handgun from his lap and pointed it at officers, without bullets.
"I'm sorry I have to do this," he said, according to police. Their body cameras captured the deadly encounter.
Four officers opened fire, and Johnson was killed. One officer was shot in her upper body and wounded. She remained in stable condition Friday at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Her injuries are not life-threatening.
Officials identified her as Officer T. Hays, a 13-year veteran of the force, assigned to patrol in Parkville.
"We don't know how Officer Hays was shot, but she was not shot by the suspect," department spokesman Cpl. Shawn Vinson said Friday.
Neighbors were shocked and saddened by the police saying Johnson was suicidal.
"If I'd been here 20 minutes earlier, I would have told police I could talk to him, I know him," said John Wheeler, 67, who lives next door. "He was a great guy, a good neighbor.
"He would always watch out for stuff in the neighborhood," he said.
Melissa Picone, 48, who lives across the street, said Johnson once left a note for her to warn about a possible problem in the neighborhood. Now she wishes she could have returned the favor and helped him.
"He was such a nice guy," she said. "You kind of wish he could have reached out to the neighborhood."
The neighbors said Johnson was a Vietnam veteran and lived in the home with his mother, who died some years back. He was known to work on his garden, which was blooming with flowering plants, and his truck and minivan. He liked to kayak or canoe in the Gunpowder River in the summer, Wheeler said.
Wheeler said he didn't know of any serious illnesses or other problems that would have made his neighbor want to end his life, just "aches and pains" related to getting older. Wheeler said Johnson had recently seen a doctor after returning from a boating trip on the C&O Canal with friends.
"He wasn't feeling as well as he used to. He was a little more bent over," Wheeler said. "He would walk every day, but said he was not able to walk as far as before."
Thursday's shooting brings yet another blow to the county police's Parkville precinct, and particularly to the squad Hays works in. Officer Amy Caprio had served in the squad before she was run over and killed by a teen in a stolen Jeep one year ago this month.
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. recognized the grim anniversary when he arrived Thursday at Shock Trauma.
"Here we are, one year later," he said. "It's a tragic reminder of what our law enforcement community has to face day-in and day-out."
Police commanders recognize the trauma this particular squad has faced and have offered counseling, Vinson said.