ELKTON -- A Cecil County police officer responding to an assault-in-progress call late Monday night fatally shot a 35-year-old man who attacked him with a meat cleaver, state police said yesterday.
The officer, who was not identified, is a 4 1/2 -year veteran of the Elkton Police Department, said Sgt. Raymond J. Clasing, the state police spokesman. He said the officer was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident at the West End Gardens apartments at 205 Pulaski Highway.
Michael Duane Short, who lived in the apartment complex, was flown to Christiana Medical Center in Christiana, Del.
Juergen D. Ervin, chief of the Elkton Police Department, requested the investigation by state police from the North East barracks. John L. Scarborough, the Cecil County state's attorney, will review the results.
Sergeant Clasing said three Elkton police officers answered the assault call at 11:08 p.m. After entering an upstairs apartment, he said, the officers confronted Mr. Short and ordered him to drop the cleaver. Mr. Short instead cornered one of the officers and was moving menacingly toward the officer when the officer shot him, Sergeant Clasing said.