BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore officer is in critical condition after being ambushed and shot while sitting in a patrol vehicle early Thursday, authorities say.
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Dr. Thomas Scalea said at a briefing outside Maryland Shock Trauma that the officer was shot multiple times and was on life support, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said the officer was on-duty but not responding to a call around 1:30 a.m. when the shooter approached from behind and opened fire. Other officers found the victim, who was not immediately identified by name or gender, after they hit the gas and their vehicle crashed.
The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 tweeted early Thursday that city and state police union leaders were at the hospital and asked people to keep the officer in their prayers.
Harrison said he and Mayor Brandon Scott met with the officer’s family members, “who are, like us, obviously angry, confused, in search of answers, and have an expectation that we will find who did this and hold one or as many people responsible for this as possible.”
The police knew few details on the shooting and were asking the public for help finding more information.
“We have a coward on the loose in Baltimore that we must and will find,” Scott said.
#BREAKING OFFICER SHOT! @BaltimorePolice Officer shot in their car while on duty in the area of Pennington Ave. Commissioner Harrison saying the officer then crashed patrol vehicle in that area @wjz pic.twitter.com/iVuVLfKlni
— Rachael Cardin (@RachaelCardin) December 16, 2021
Amazing not a white person in the group!
Police commissioner Harrison said that they will find who did this and hold them responsible. Tough words there, but we won’t hold our breath. The vast majority of murders/shootings in Baltimore go unresolved. They still have yet to identify the killer of another police officer from a few years ago. And BTW, having police officers work alone without a partner, (which is the norm in Baltimore) especially in such a dangerous city, invites this madness.