Baltimore Police Officers Shot By Carjacking Suspects; Officers' Conditions Unknown
SWAT Team Converges On Northeast Baltimore Home Where Police Believe Suspects Barricaded Themselves
By Gary Gately
journalistgarygately@gmail.com
Baltimore Police officers have been shot by carjacking suspects who police believe have barricaded themselves in a home in Northeast Baltimore, police said early Wednesday.Â
The Baltimore Police Department did not immediately have details on how many officers were shot or their conditions.
SWAT team members have descended on the home in the 1800 block of Lyndonlea Way near Good Samaritan Hospital, the Baltimore Police Department said early Wednesday. Police warned residents to avoid the area because of potential danger.Â
The officers wounded in the shootings had been following a carjacking suspect about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday near Wadsworth Way and Fenwick when shots were fired, striking the officers' patrol car, police said.
The suspects fled on foot and police sent a SWAT team to Lyndonlea Way, where they believe the suspects have holed up.
Baltimore's latest carjacking comes as the number of them have spiked over the past two years. The city counted 466 carjackings last year, an average of about 39 a month, about the same as this year's pace.
Two high-profile carjackings occurred in Canton in less than a week.Â
On Friday, 57-year-old Darrell Benner was fatally shot after attempting to intervene when his nephew's vehicle was carjacked during a robbery on South Curley Street near O'Donnell Square, a popular entertainment district for locals and tourists alike.Â
Then on Tuesday, armed suspects stole a Jeep on South Luzerne Street in Canton, police said.Â
The BPD had no suspects early Wednesday in those two carjackings.Â
On Monday, a 15-year-old admitted attempting to carjack an off-duty BPD officer who had been in his private car in the 1300 block of Walker Avenue about 2:55 a.m., police said.Â
The teen fired at the officer, who then returned fire, causing a graze wound to the suspect's leg, police said. The youth was being held at the Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center on Gay Street.Â
This is a developing story and will be updated.
If you spot any errors, want to share news tips, pitch story ideas or submit a first-person piece, please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks again for reading. — Gary Gately, Editor, The Baltimore Observer, journalistgarygately@gmail.com, 410-382-4364.