UPDATE: The Baltimore County Police Department has released the police body-cam footage from this incident.
Original story below…
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A man who threatened family members with a gun was shot by police in Overlea on Thursday night when he reached for a powerful scoped rifle.
The suspect has been identified as Kerry Lee Coomer, 59, of Greenwood Avenue.
Patrol officers were dispatched to the Greenwood Avenue residence at about 10:45 p.m. for a report of a suicidal subject with a gun. Coomer’s estranged wife, who lives nearby, told police he had been arguing with her throughout the day and was verbally and visibly suicidal; he said he wanted to die, and he pointed the gun – a .30-.30 scoped rifle – at himself.
Coomer threatened the estranged wife and another family member. At some point, he pointed the rifle at one of them, and that is when the estranged wife called police.
Coomer came onto the porch when patrol responded, and one officer began to talk to him in an effort to calm him and de-escalate the situation. A second officer provided cover. The first officer provided clear verbal commands for the suspect to put up his hands and come off the porch. The suspect refused.
As the first officer continued to verbally engage the suspect, he suddenly reached for the rifle and brought it up. The officer turned and ran for his life. The cover officer fired two shots. Both hit the suspect in the upper body.
Baltimore County Fire Department medic crews were called immediately. The suspect was declared dead at the scene.
The Homicide Unit’s investigation is ongoing. The Homicide Unit investigates all police involved shootings.
The officer involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative status while the incident is reviewed.
Body camera footage from the officer who communicated with the suspect and fled for his life is part of the investigation. The officer who fired the shots was not equipped with a body camera.
BCoPD’s body camera program began last July and is expected to be fully deployed by September 30, 2017.
