No charges filed in deadly police shooting of man armed with bow and arrow in Baltimore County

No charges will be filed against the Baltimore County police officer who shot and killed a man who was armed with a bow and arrow in April 2025, according to the Maryland Attorney General's Office.

An officer shot Arvel Jones Sr. after he was wearing a mask and fired arrows at passing cars in the 5100 block of Leeds Avenue in Arbutus.

Investigators said Detective Todd Wiedel, who was in the area, not in uniform, with an unmarked police vehicle, got out of the vehicle and pointed his department-issued handgun at the same time Jones pointed the bow and arrow. Both discharged their weapons, and the officer struck Jones, according to officials.

The officer was not struck or injured. Jones died at the scene.

The police shooting prompted three schools to be placed on a lockdown -- Maiden Choice, Arbutus Elementary, and Arbutus Middle.

"I thought it was weird. I thought he might have been taken in somebody's house, or, you know, people, bow hunt and everything," neighbor Jim Mechlinski told WJZ.

Office of the Attorney General determined that the officer did not commit a crime under Maryland law. 

Bullets strike neighbor's house

Neighbors in the Arbutus neighborhood said bullets fired from the officers' weapon hit the siding and flew through the window of a nearby house.

"The bullet actually did penetrate the window, and it went straight through and hit the entertainment center," Mary Bunting said.

Bunting told WJZ she owned the rental property where two people lived at the time. No one was in the home at the time of the police shooting.

"On the way home is when it really hit me, how bad this really could have been if she had been home and sitting on her chair watching TV," Bunting said.

Another neighbor was concerned about the careless acts of the police officer.

"Whoever fired the weapon wasn't didn't seem like they were concerned about where the bullets could travel," Paul Cotton said.