A man shot and critically injured by Baltimore County officers late Wednesday afternoon is believed to have threatened a man earlier in the day with a gun, the department said Thursday.
Baltimore County Police provided few other details about what led officers to open fire on the suspect outside the Baltimore Police Southwestern District station house on Font Hill Avenue on Wednesday evening.
Police said the man shot by officers remains in critical condition. The department has not publicly identified him.
“When officers approached the vehicle, the suspect pointed what they believed to be a gun at them, which resulted in an officer shooting the suspect,” police said in a news release Thursday evening.
County police spokeswoman Joy Stewart directed additional questions to Baltimore Police. Baltimore Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge referred questions to the county.
Stewart would not say Thursday whether officers recovered a gun from the shooting scene or the man fired upon officers.
Eldridge said Baltimore Police were not involved in the shooting and will not take the lead in the investigation.
“Although the police-involved shooting occurred in Baltimore City, it did not involve our agency,” she said. “The Baltimore Police Department will assist with aspects of the investigation and share any updates with the Baltimore County Police Department.”
In their statement, county police said officers from the Woodlawn Precinct were called around 3 p.m. to the 1400 block of Adamsview Road for a report of a disturbance involving a firearm.
A victim told county officers that a man who was blocking his driveway pointed a gun at him and then left the area in a GMC Envoy.
County officers later found the SUV on Hurley Avenue in the Gywnns Falls neighborhood of Baltimore City, and approached it just before the shooting around 5 p.m.
County police said one officer remains on routine administrative leave. The department has not yet identified the officer.
A witness, William Feldman, told The Baltimore Sun that he heard officers yelling “Drop your weapon” several times at the man. Feldman said he then saw the man turn toward officers and then he heard five shots.
In September, Baltimore County police opened fire on a woman, Tiara Kianna Baker, while trying to arrest her near a downtown hotel. Bullets grazed her arm and her ear, her attorney said at the time.
Baker, who was being sought by police for an alleged robbery, received multiple charges from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.
Baltimore City was not involved in that shooting either, although it had occurred in its jurisdiction.
Tony Garcia, Baker’s attorney, previously told The Baltimore Sun that the officers never identified themselves, and that his client feared for her life. As she attempted to leave, she hit several cars, according to police. Garcia said that officers fired four shots at her.