City police identified the man shot and killed by Baltimore County detectives Tuesday, as the union representing parole and probation agents expressed concern that the attempted arrest in the agency's parking lot put members of the public in danger.
Christopher Shelton, 39, left an appointment with his probation agent and was fatally shot after pointing a .50-caliber handgun at two county officers who were investigating an armed robbery, police said. Shelton had served two terms in prison for armed robbery, most recently a 2000 conviction in Baltimore County that was apparently cut short by a three-judge panel, according to records. He had previously served time for an armed robbery conviction in Howard County.
Rai Douglas, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3661, met with employees, who he said expressed concern that police did not approach Shelton in the lobby of the building, which was a more controlled environment. "They felt it could've been better coordinated and the arrest could've happened inside [so that] gunfire wouldn't erupt on the streets of the city near a school," Douglas said.