Two men have been charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons violations after a shooting that authorities said involved a gunfire exchange with Baltimore County Police Department officers, Howard County police said Friday.
Howard County Police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said shots were fired in a standoff Thursday after a pursuit that started in Baltimore County and ended in Elkridge. She said Baltimore County officers shot the suspects, returning fire after being shot at first.
The two men, Justin Lee Buchanan, 34, and Kevin Tyler Kelly, 25, both of Baltimore, were wounded in the incident and are in critical condition at University of Maryland Shock Trauma.
Neither Buchanan nor Kelly had attorneys listed in online court records.
Police say a third suspect was inside the same car as Buchanan and Kelly — a 2014 Acura RX — when the shooting occurred. That man, Benjamin Lemon, whose age and place of residence were not immediately known, has not been charged with a crime, though he was taken into custody at the scene on an arrest warrant for a separate shooting on May 19 in Lansdowne.
Police said the car chase occurred after an effort to apprehend Lemon after he was spotted in Lansdowne on May 21. The pursuit ended at about 2:30 p.m., authorities said, in the 5600 block of Furnace Ave. in Howard County. Howard County and Maryland State Police assisted the Baltimore County officers.
At that point, shots were fired at the officers from inside the Acura, according to police. It was not immediately known which person inside the Acura shot first, but detectives are investigating the circumstances of the standoff.
The number of Baltimore County officers who were involved and fired their weapons is still being investigated. None of the officers were injured.
Baltimore Sun reporter Phil Davis contributed to this article.