Witness video shows officers responding to Baltimore hostage standoff

A witness captured video of Baltimore police officers hustling to a home on Park Heights Avenue in response to a hostage standoff on Tuesday.

Police said an officer was shot, and a SWAT team sniper killed a suspect.

"It was so loud and terrifying"

Nechemyah Rich said he followed the officers to Pinkney Road where he ran into a nearby synagogue, and started recording with his phone.

"I see a cop walking down the street with his guns drawn as you see in the movies," Rich said. "My adrenaline starts pumping. I said, 'I'm going to follow the cops.'"

Rich's video shows several Baltimore and SWAT officers heading toward the home with shields and hiding behind trees.

"I was videoing and I heard a shotgun shot," Rich said. "I dropped my phone. It was so loud and terrifying."

Rich said he watched as police walked a person out of the home.

He said this is a "quiet residential neighborhood" that doesn't have this type of violence.

"There's a synagogue here, there's a synagogue in that corner as well," Rich said. "To have this kind of action, as they call it, right at home is pretty scary."

The standoff and shooting

Police said officers took cover after an officer was shot in the leg. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said the officer was taken to Shock Trauma and is in "great spirits."

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the officer is 36 years old and is a 13-year veteran of the police department. 

"Kudos to his buddy for having the wherewithal to put a tourniquet on him at the scene," said Dr. Thomas Scalea with the Shock Trauma Center. "He's awake, he's stable and currently undergoing evaluation." 

The suspect had a hostage and appeared in the window several times with a gun to the person's head before he was shot, Worley said  

A woman who jumped from the window of the home while trying to flee was also taken to a nearby hospital, police said. 

The suspect was "neutralized" by a SWAT team sniper officer, according to police. The suspect was pronounced dead on the scene. A firearm was recovered from the home.