Bodycam Footage Released in Fatal Howard County Shooting of Autistic Man

Alexander LaMorie called 911 himself on the night of Feb. 28 to report he was being extorted online. By 12:22 a.m. the following morning, he was dead, shot by the officers who answered his call.

The Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division released body-worn camera footage Monday from the March 1 fatal shooting at Patuxent Commons, a Columbia apartment community on the 6400 block of Freetown Road that houses residents with autism and other disabilities. LaMorie, 25, had autism and had recently moved into the complex.

The footage, recorded by Officers Cody Bostic, Joel Rodriguez, and PFC Joseph Riebau, shows the three officers searching LaMorie's empty apartment and finding his phone, wallet, and keys before fanning out through the building's stairwells and lounge, guns drawn, calling his name. A fourth officer remained behind in case LaMorie returned.

When they found him outside the building, he was holding a knife at his side and walking toward them. Officers retreated and repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon. He did not. Before shots were fired, PFC Riebau, a 10-year department veteran, shouted: "Please don't make me do this." Despite life-saving efforts at the scene, LaMorie was pronounced dead. Authorities recovered a knife near his body.

Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der said LaMorie's call before midnight on Feb. 28 described an online extortion scheme: he had exchanged personal information and photos with someone posing as a young woman and was then threatened with exposure unless he paid. Two of the four officers on scene were trained members of the department's crisis intervention team.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball called the loss "tragic," saying, "There are no words that can adequately express my grief regarding the tragic loss of Alexander Lamorie." Ball said his team had been in contact with LaMorie's family and the Autism Society of Maryland before the footage's release.

LaMorie's family described him as "a kind, loving, and enthusiastic person, and a bright light in the community" who had earned an Associate's Degree, was enrolled at the University of Maryland Global Campus, and served on an autism advisory board. Howard County police declined to comment on the footage, referring all questions to the office of Attorney General Anthony Brown. The IID investigation remains ongoing.