Officer Shot Armed Man During Chase, Confrontation

Authorities say a Maryland police officer shot an armed man during a confrontation.

(WashingtonPost)- A Prince George’s County police officer shot and wounded a person Thursday night in the Capitol Heights area of the county, officials said.

Prince George’s police chief Henry Stawinski III said that a uniformed officer fired three times during a confrontation with a suspect who was armed with a handgun in a wooded area outside of a townhouse complex in the 7000 block of Shady Glen Terrace.

The wounded man was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive his injury.

The incident began around 9:50 p.m., as plainclothes officers followed a male in a vehicle that they believed was wanted in a series of violent crimes, Stawinski said.

Those officers wanted to confirm the identity of the person in the car and they instructed a uniformed officer in a marked patrol car to stop the vehicle. After officers flashed their emergency signals, the vehicle briefly fled, but later stopped in a courtyard in the 7400 block of Shady Glen Terrace. At that point, the person who police were following ran from the vehicle, armed with a handgun, Stawinski said.

 A uniformed officer then chased the armed male about 10 yards into the woods, where the officer confronted the suspect and then fired, striking the male in an arm.

It was not immediately clear to police officials whether the suspect fired at the pursuing officer, prior to the officer’s shots.

“We have recovered a handgun with an extended magazine,” Stawinski said at a media briefing after midnight. The officer who fired was not wearing a body camera, however, Stawinski said. He added that police have a dashboard camera video from the patrol car.

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