Baltimore County family seeks answers after sibling dispute leads to deadly police shooting

Multiple investigations are underway after Baltimore County Police shot and killed a man while responding to a stabbing at an Essex apartment building on Wednesday night.

WJZ Investigates has learned this started as a dispute between a brother and his sister in their apartment. 

The family of 31-year-old Howard Sye, who died after being shot by police, is demanding answers and accountability from Baltimore County. 

How the incident unfolded 

Neighbor Nick Discher showed WJZ the bullet holes in the door to a basement apartment on Holgate Drive where police shot Sye around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. He said the floor, since cleaned, was covered in blood. 

It is part of a narrow stairwell one floor down from the apartment building's outside entrance. The gunfire echoed throughout the building, Discher said. 

In the hour before, he heard arguing. 

"Some doors were slammed back and forth a couple F-you's went back and forth between them, and you could hear him leaving the apartment, slamming the door," Discher said. "He went back in again and came back out. It was the same scenario that went on for about 15 minutes or so."

Discher continued, "Later, he was banging on the door. She must have had the door dead-bolted and locked, and he kept saying, 'Open the [expletive] door.' That must've gone on about three or four times. By then, I assume she called the police because they were here within 10 minutes of that."

Police said as they were on their way, officers were told someone had been stabbed. 

Discher told WJZ he listened closely as the officers arrived.

"I heard the officer talking, a female officer talking. I heard her say 'Hey, guy, what's going on? Why don't you come talk to me?' And then all of a sudden, I heard, 'Knife! Put the knife down!' She said it. And then I heard another male officer say, 'Put the knife down!' And within five seconds, they unloaded," Discher said. 

Baltimore County said in a statement, "During that encounter, several officers discharged their firearms in response to the male subject's actions, striking him."

They provided no further details about that part of the encounter. 

Police said officers later found a woman inside the apartment with stab wounds.

One officer was injured in the incident and treated at a hospital. 

"After the officer pulled the trigger, I'm assuming it's the female officer because she had blood on her hands, I heard her say, 'Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God,' and then basically the other two of them took over, and they started rendering aid," Discher told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. 

He said everything unfolded fast.

"It was a matter of seconds from her saying talk to me. I don't know if he lunged at them or they just saw that he had a knife in his hand and they got scared and unloaded," Discher said. "Personally, I don't see why they would have to shoot him down like that."

Family demands answers 

Tabias, who declined to give his last name, told Hellgren it was his brother, Howard Sye, who died. He said it happened six days before Sye's 32nd birthday. 

Tabias' sister remains hospitalized from stab wounds. 

"How does a guy who has mental problems just die if he had a knife? That doesn't make sense. That doesn't make sense at all because if it were anybody else, it wouldn't have gone like that," the brother said.

He told WJZ his brother suffered from mental health issues and police had responded to the home before. 

He believes the situation could have been de-escalated.

"There's no way that man should be dead. There's no way I shouldn't have my brother here right now," he said. "It's crazy."

Tabias described his brother as a father who doted on his young daughter. He said he was smart and a good mechanic. 

"He could fix any car. Any problem that you had with a car, he could've fixed it for you," his brother said. "He's a workout machine. He could outwork anybody on this earth. Anybody."

Tabias said his brother's mental issues stemmed from prior family trauma. 

"He had a lot of mental issues, dealing with a lot as far as our family death growing up—just a lot that we haven't had to talk about for real," he said. 

He told Hellgren, "I guarantee you my sister called because she didn't know what transpired or what he was capable of, and I bet you she didn't expect him to die that day either."

He wants a fair and independent investigation into what happened. 

"As a human being, when you come somewhere, and you don't know what's going on, the first thing you do is shoot? Why not talk to them?" Tabias asked. "Essex police need to be held accountable. My brother is not going to be here, but you all have your family that you can go home to."

Maryland AG's investigation 

Under state law, the Maryland attorney general's office is in charge of investigating the shooting. 

Baltimore County police said they have launched a separate investigation into the stabbing. 

All the officers were wearing their body cameras, police said. 

That video should be released within 20 business days, the attorney general's office told WJZ.

The officers are on routine administrative leave. 

The Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division released a few specific details in a statement late Thursday. 

"Officers arrived and encountered a man armed with a knife. Officers gave verbal commands to the man. At that point, multiple officers discharged their service weapons, striking the man," the statement said. "Officers provided medical aid until EMS arrived on the scene and transported him to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A woman with an apparent stab wound was located in the apartment and transported to a local hospital for treatment. One officer, injured during the incident, was transported to a local hospital for treatment. A knife was recovered at the scene."

Investigators urged anyone with information about the investigation to contact the IID at (410) 576-7070 or by email at IID@oag.maryland.gov.