A Prince George’s County police officer fatally shot a driver Thursday who authorities say took off while the officer was inside the car conducting a search.
Police saidthe shooting happened as a lieutenant was conducting a traffic stop around 8:40 p.m. near 23rd Avenue and Ager Road in Chillum, Maryland.
At a news conference Thursday, Prince George’s Police Chief George Nader said the lieutenant had probable cause to search the vehicle. A backup officer arrived, and the driver was asked to exit the vehicle and sit on a curb, authorities said.
Nader said the driver then evaded the backup officer and reentered the vehicle while the lieutenant was still searching it. The driver drove off while the officer was inside the car, authorities said.
Nader said the lieutenant shot the man as he drove about 150 yards away. The second officer was knocked down by the vehicle and the vehicle crashed into a pole, the department said.
The driver — whose identity has not been released — died at a hospital, authorities said. Both officers were also taken to a hospital and have sincebeen released, police said Friday. Their identities were not immediately made public.
Nader said police were investigating what led the initial officer to pull over the vehicle. The driver was not in handcuffs at the time of the traffic stop, he said.
He also said a large amount of marijuana was found in the car, but he did not say the exact quantity. Nader said he would wait until the vehicle was searched again to find out what else was in the car.
“You never want your officers to be injured while they’re out here trying to serve and protect the community,” Nader said. “This is not the outcome that anybody wants. You never want to see life lost, regardless of the circumstances, so I wish it could have been different. I wish that the suspect would have cooperated and let the scene play out.”
Nader said he does not believe that the man lived in the neighborhood or the county.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown said the office’s Independent Investigations Division, which responded to the scene of the shooting, was investigating the incident.
Brown’s office said in a statement Friday that both officers were wearing body cameras and that the backup officer’s vehicle had a dash camera. The office generally releases footage within 20 business days of an incident.
On Thursday, Nader noted that the incident in Prince George’s came a day after a D.C. police officer was struck by a driver at Martin Luther King Avenue and Forrester Avenue SW. That driver, who led officers on a pursuit, was later arrested in Virginia, D.C. police said. Police in Prince George’s had also unsuccessfully tried to stop the driver, Fox 5 reported.
correctionA previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. It happened around 8:40 p.m., police said.
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