Baltimore, Maryland: Officer Shoots Man Who Pointed Gun During Foot Chase Near Erdman Shopping Center

A Baltimore police officer shot a man in East Baltimore on Thursday afternoon after the man ran from him and pointed a gun at him during a foot chase, police said. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The officer was not hurt.

What police say happened

The officer was working crime suppression in the area when he approached a man walking near Erdman Avenue at about 12:16 p.m. on Thursday, Col. Ryan Lee, the department's chief of patrol, said at a news conference. The man fled, and the officer chased him on foot. At one point the man turned and pointed a weapon at the officer, Lee said, and the officer fired multiple rounds.

Police recovered a semiautomatic handgun from the scene in the 3900 block of Erdman Avenue, in the Belair-Edison neighborhood of East Baltimore. Police said they had not confirmed the man's identity and believed he is an adult. It was not clear whether the man fired his weapon.

A closed shopping center, and ballots in the middle of the scene

Police closed the 3800 and 3900 blocks of Erdman Avenue to traffic. Dozens of officers and detectives worked across the parking lot outside the Erdman Shopping Center and along the avenue, behind crime tape, with more than a dozen markers set out for shell casings on the street.

One odd detail sat in the middle of the scene. Officers removed ballot boxes from a white Toyota Camry that had been hit by bullets. The boxes were unrelated to the shooting, police spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. Clifford Tatum, director of the Baltimore City Board of Elections, said a contractor was retrieving ballots from the drop box at 3801 Erdman Avenue when the shooting happened. The contractor was not hurt, and Tatum said all of the ballots in the contractor's possession were retrieved by the Board of Elections and are secure.

Investigation and context

The Maryland attorney general's office was notified and was responding to the scene, and staff from the State's Attorney's Office were also there while detectives reviewed body camera footage. Mayor Brandon Scott, who went to the scene, called it a traumatic incident for the neighborhood and pointed to the library and childcare center close by. Lee said the officer was working overtime on crime suppression because of concerns in and around the neighborhood, where there was a fatal shooting earlier in the week.

Thursday's shooting was the 10th time Baltimore police have opened fire this year, according to a Baltimore Banner analysis. That is the most in the city since 2016, when there were 11 police shootings.