City school cop shoots child
Early Tuesday, a 13-year-old boy was shot in the ankle while being arrested by a Baltimore school system police officer. The cops were at the Harlem Park complex in West Baltimore checking on a report that some kids had broken into the school.
The school system issued a news release but did not identify either the officer or the child who was struck (it appears the officer's gun accidentally discharged through his pants and hit the youth). Baltimore police are reviewing their policy on withholding the names of officers who fire their weapons and have not yet made a final determination.
I asked the department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, for the names of the child and the officer, and he referred me to the school system. A spokeswoman for city schools, Edie House, told me they would definitely not release the name of the young victim citing confidentiality laws. City police have been sporadic about naming victims because of witness intimidation issues, but in the past they routinely released the names of all victims, child and adult.
As I hold Baltimore police accountable, I'm calling on authorities to release the name of the officer who fired his weapon and say more about the shooting -- was his weapon drawn or how did it discharge? And without the name of the child, we have no way of determining whether he was a student at the school and what his defense might be.
House told me she would check on whether they can release the name of the officer, but she said it probably wouldn't be done until after Baltimore police conclude their investigation. City police are running the investigation, and in the past, when they routinely released names of police officers who shot people, they also released names of officers from other agencies who discharged their weapons:
In 1990, city police told us that Officer Kenneth M. Dean III of the now defunct Housing Authority police shot and killed Eli McCoy, a 17-year-old youth.
In 1997, city police identified Armis Paul Strickland, 46, a police officer with the University of Maryland at Baltimore who fatally shot a mentally disturbed woman who had just been released from the hospital.
Here is the statement issued by the Baltimore school system of the shooting:
MEDIA STATEMENT
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
At 12:15 a.m. on April 14, 2009 school police responded to an alarm at the Harlem Park complex. Upon arrival, officers observed four individuals inside the building. A perimeter was established with the assistance of Baltimore Police. Four juvenile suspects were apprehended by school police personnel. During the apprehension, one individual was injured when the officer’s service weapon discharged through the officer’s pant leg and struck the suspect in the ankle. This individual was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment. The remaining three individuals were processed and transported to the Department of Juvenile Services.
The discharge of the weapon is presently being investigated by Baltimore Police. The officer, a 36-year veteran of school police, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation by Baltimore Police. Further details will be provided at the conclusion of the investigation.
Comments
I do believe that this incident involved a school police officer, not a BPD officer. School police are part of the Baltimore City Public School system, not BPD, so they have different rules when it comes to releasing information of both students and workers, including police officers.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 15, 2009 7:56 PM
Yes, you are correct that the shooting involved a school city police officer. But Baltimore police are investigating, and as I pointed out, they have in the past released names of officers from different departments who shoot people in the city.
Posted by: Peter Hermann | April 16, 2009 7:45 AM