Family says man shot and killed during police chase in East Baltimore was targeted

The family of a man who was shot and killed by police on Tuesday in East Baltimore believes he was targeted because of his criminal history.

Police said an armed man died after he was shot during a foot chase with officers. The Maryland Attorney General's Office identified the man as 37-year-old Dwight Hawkins.

"We just didn't understand, like, 'Why? Why, they killed him, like that," said Lorraine Hawkins, who is Dwight Hawkins' aunt.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said two officers fired shots at the man after a chase from a liquor store in the 3600 block of Belair Road, in the Belair-Edison neighborhood. 

The man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.  

Foot chase leads to police shooting

Officers were patrolling the Belair-Edison neighborhood when they saw a man who they believed had a gun inside a liquor store. When he left the store, he ran away after he was approached by an officer, which led to a foot chase.

Worley said that officers continued to tell the man to show his hands, and he had a gun in his hand, and he continued running. He then ran face-to-face with a second officer, and he was shot.

Police said the man was prohibited from owning a gun. He was also known to officers with a lengthy arrest record.

"The officers were part of our Group Violence Unit. They are in this area because this is an area where we have a lot of problems - crime, shootings," Worley said. "They went into the liquor store, and the individual and several other people in the store started to move around a little bit. The officers believed this individual was armed." 

Worley added, "As he came out of the store, he started walking away from the officer. One of the officers came up behind him and tried to stop him, at which point he took off running, and a foot pursuit ensued."

Worley said that at least 16 rounds were fired, but it is unknown whether the suspect fired his weapon.

Three officers at the scene will be placed on paid administrative leave, Worley said. Two officers who fired their weapons were Arthur Fuog, a 6-year veteran, and Omar Rodriguez, a 7-year veteran.

"This is another incident where if they had simply complied and put the gun down, we wouldn't be having this press conference," Worley said. "The individual continued running with the gun in his hand, and he came face-to-face with a second officer, at which point he was shot."

Shooting captured on security video

The shooting was captured on security camera video from a nearby home.

In the video, a man, identified by his family as Hawkins, is seen running away from officers and weaving through cars before several rounds are fired.

"If they running, they scared. They scared of y'all. If it's… three or four y'all, y'all could tackle a person," Lorraine Hawkins said. "Y'all could tase a person. You don't have to overkill a person. You don't have to shoot a person 16 times."

Police said because of prior charges, Hawkins was not legally allowed to possess a firearm. His family believes a firearm was never in Hawkins' hand during the pursuit.

"Allegedly, if he did have a gun, the video shows he never pulled it out. He never pointed it," Chante Fenner, Hawkins' cousin, told WJZ. "We need justice, and it's not right."

The family says while he has a criminal history, he turned his life around for his three children. They say Hawkins recently moved out of Baltimore City to Hagerstown and had a steady job at a hotel in downtown Baltimore.

His family believes he was targeted by police because of his past.

"I'm not saying that we was the perfect family, or he was the perfect child," Lorraine Hawkins said. "We all have a past. He did have a past, but it was about change. They did not have to gun him down the way they did."

The family says they want more answers from police and are hoping they change their tactics moving forward.

The family also says it took 30 to 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and that they believe Hawkins died at the scene.

When transported, the family also says they did not know what hospital Hawkins was taken to.