Baltimore officer injured, shoots man trying to remove car before tow near Lexington Market
Baltimore police shot a 29-year-old man in the 300 block of N. Eutaw Street—near Eutaw and Saratoga—Saturday night.
The shooting scene unfolded just after 9:30 pm not far from Lexington Market.
Bystander video WJZ obtained shows a person wearing a pink tracksuit being taken out of a dark blue late model Acura TLX and placed onto a stretcher.
What happened before the shooting?
Police say they cited the car for suspended and expired tags and were waiting to tow it when a man arrived, first denying that he owned it, then saying it was his car.
Then, police say, an officer allowed the man to get his belongings before the tow truck arrived.
Officer dragged
BPD Commissioner Richard Worley arrived on the scene and spoke about what happened next.
"At that time, the individual got into the driver's seat while the officer walked toward that vehicle. There was a second officer coming who was going to pull in front of the vehicle so that he could not move if he tried, but before he could get in place, the driver put the car in drive and drove into the officer," Worley told WJZ. "As the officer told him to stop, he continued to drive. He backed up and went forward again, dragging the officer a short distance, at which point the officer fired at least three rounds into the vehicle, striking the driver."
Conditions of those involved
The commissioner said the officer suffered back and neck injuries and was taken to a hospital. The 29-year-old man who was shot was in critical condition as of last check.
"The simple thing is comply with the officer and not try and get in the car and drive away. Your license is revoked. You shouldn't even be driving," Worley told WJZ.
A crowd gathered at the scene, which Worley said required significant resources to control.
The commissioner said there is body-worn camera video of the incident that is being reviewed.
"From what I saw, the officer did exactly what we asked him to do," Worley said.