Officer-involved shooting in Belair-Edison Tuesday evening kills 37-year-old man

Two officers from Baltimore Police’s Group Violence Unit fired their weapons in Belair-Edison Tuesday evening, killing a 37-year-old man and triggering heavy law enforcement activity that closed Belair Road from the Shrine of the Little Flower Roman Catholic Church to Belair Discount Liquors. ShotSpotter recorded 16 shots, and police asked the public to avoid the 3600 block of Belair Road (sometimes reported as Bel-Air Road) while investigators worked the scene.

Commissioner Richard Worley described the encounter at a media briefing, saying officers “entered a liquor store in the 3600 block of Belair Avenue in Belair-Edison and observed a man who they believed had a weapon.” Worley said, “As he exited, … they tried to talk to him and he proceeded to run. Officers chased him on foot and continually asked him to stop.” He added that “during the chase, the man pulled the gun out of his pocket, had it in his right hand and ended up almost face-to-face with one of the two officers chasing him.”

Worley confirmed that “both officers discharged their weapons” and that “ShotSpotter recorded 16 shots.” He also said police were not yet sure whether the suspect fired any shots. Officers and first responders performed CPR at the scene; the man was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead, and Baltimore police had not released his name as of evening reports. WMAR reported the shooting occurred around 6:15 p.m.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division was on scene to lead the probe, and Mayor Brandon Scott viewed body-worn camera footage, according to officials. Per department policy, all officers involved will be placed on administrative leave while the IID and internal investigators gather evidence and ballistics data. The Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 posted on X that it is “aware of the police involved shooting in the Eastern District” and said the lodge’s president and first vice president were en route to assist the officers involved.

Investigators left nearly two dozen yellow numbered evidence markers at the corner of Belair Road and Pelham Avenue, and media photographers captured the blocked intersections and staging areas. Reporters at the scene included Kyrie Stewart, who said on Instagram, “Hey, everybody. It's Kyrie Stewart here. I'm on the scene of a police shooting here at Bel Air Road. We're actually at a media staging area.” Neighbors gathered on porches as police worked; one woman shouted that officers had fatally shot her cousin, and other residents “shook their heads in sadness and disappointment.”

This shooting follows two recent police-involved shootings in the city in January: the Jan. 20 fatal shooting of Jamarl Muse, 40, and the Jan. 19 incident in which Autumn Elizabeth Denny, 48, was shot in the leg. City officials and community leaders will be watching the IID’s ballistics and medical examiner findings to determine whether the rounds recorded by ShotSpotter were fired by officers, the suspect, or both. Officials have said the coroner’s report, any ballistics breakdown, the suspect’s identity, and officer identities remain to be released as the investigation continues.