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The Woodlawn man who set his home ablaze and fatally shot three neighbors Saturday contacted 911 dispatchers and police at least 120 times over the last 24 years, according to a list of calls provided to The Baltimore Sun.
Baltimore County Police shot and killed Everton Brown, 56, while responding to Saturday’s violence in the Parkview Crossing neighborhood. The shootings and fire followed a history of disputes with his neighbors, who said Brown was intensely paranoid that law enforcement authorities were watching him and invading his property.
Police have said Brown had numerous interactions with patrol, outreach officers and the crisis intervention team for decades. Call records show most of the calls for service to Brown’s address were initiated by Brown.
On different occasions, records show that Brown called to report a tooth he had kept wrapped in tissue for a month had been stolen, a stolen dog blanket and paperwork, and to accuse the FBI of cutting his grass and entering his home while he was gone.
Brown maintained that he had no history of mental illness during the incidents and would sometimes go months without contacting police before calling them several times over multiple weeks, according to call records.
In a 2008 call, Brown reported his property had been vandalized and told the dispatcher that “things will start to get violent.”
In two separate 2013 calls, neighbors described Brown threatening them through a bullhorn on his front steps and said they were “concerned someone will get hurt.” Brown also called police about confrontations with a garbage man and to report neighbors parking improperly and throwing snow on his sidewalk.
At least eight times, police performed urgent and non-urgent welfare checks on Brown, a law enforcement practice when a person is believed to be in danger.
A 2015 description of one of those checks described Brown saying he was being “terrorized and threatened” every night by the FBI, but that it was unknown if Brown was suffering a mental illness.
In a 2018 call after Brown reported his yard signs were stolen, Brown told the dispatcher the officer who responded to his home called him “crazy.”
Brown said police “refused to make a report” during an urgent welfare check. After Brown told a dispatcher the FBI changed his locks in a 2014 call, the dispatcher said they requested an officer “call back and [advise] we will not be responding and [advise] for him to stop calling 911 in ref to this.”
Brown was described as being upset that police did not respond to his home after multiple calls where Brown wanted to report that the FBI was monitoring him and that his passport had been stolen.
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The incident reveals gaps in how the county handles those suffering untreated mental health crises, said County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. at a May 10 press conference about the shootings.
Residents have asked why police didn’t do more to intervene with Brown, given long-running complaints from neighbors and their belief that Brown was suffering from mental illness.
“It’s sad that others had to lose their lives because of his illness,” Serena Wiley, a neighbor, told The Sun. “Had the incident went a different way, maybe this would’ve been the time he could’ve gotten help.”
Efforts to reach Brown’s family have been unsuccessful. Police declined to provide details about any interventions with Brown, including if he had ever been taken for an emergency evaluation, citing privacy laws.
Baltimore County Police also released Thursday the names of the four officers who fired their weapons at Brown: Officers Becketts, Davis, Irwin and Norton. All four work in the Woodlawn Precinct, and their years of service range from six to 14 years.
Baltimore County Police typically do not release the first names of officers involved in use-of-force incidents, citing an agreement with the police union.
Baltimore Sun reporter Alison Knezevich contributed to this article.