Man who police say shot deputy sheriff a convicted felon
The man who police say got shot after he jumped into a city sheriff deputy's cruiser this morning and attacked an officer with a knife is a convicted felon out on bail awaiting trial on drug and gun charges, according to court documents.
Police say they still don't know why the man got into the cruiser at Walther Avenue and Moravia Road. The deputy was on his way to work and stopped at a light, and does not know the suspect, according to authorities.
Here's an update to the story:
A city sheriff’s deputy on his way to work Friday morning shot and wounded a man who authorities said jumped into his marked cruiser and attacked him with a knife at a busy intersection in Northeast Baltimore.
The man was wounded in the left arm and taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was being treated. His condition was not available, but a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Sheriff’s Office said he was conscious and talking to paramedics.
Police identified the wounded man as Jontae L. Daughtry, 36, of the 1200 block of East Cold Spring Lane in New Northwood. He was in custody on Friday awaiting charges, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The deputy was identified as Gideon Shifaraw, a 10-year veteran of the force. He was not injured.
Sgt. Carla Lightsey, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, described the attack, which occurred before 8 a.m. at Walther Avenue and Moravia Road, as purely random. “He has no clue as to why it happened,” the sergeant said of the deputy.
Shifaraw was traveling in a marked cruiser south on Walther Avenue, about six blocks northeast of Herring Run Park, and was stopped at a red light. Lightsey said the man with the knife jumped into the front passenger seat.
“He was wielding a knife at him,” Lightsey said, and the deputy pulled his handgun and fired one shot from his .40 caliber Glock handgun. Baltimore police homicide detectives are investigating, as is routine for police-involved shootings.
The deputy’s car was still parked at the intersection late Friday morning, with the streets blocked off with crime-scene tape. The area consists of mostly single-family homes and is in the Beverly Hills subsection of the Moravia-Walther neighborhood.
Sheriff’s deputies provide security for the downtown Baltimore Circuit Court buildings and typically serve arrest warrants.
The suspect, Daughtry, is out on bail pending a trial on a drug and gun charge, according to court records. Police said in court documents that members of the Violent Crime Impact Section tracked the man for several weeks and alleged that he sold heroin and cocaine from his parent’s house on East Cold Spring Lane and from his vehicle in Northeast Baltimore.
Police raided the parent’s house in April, according a police report, and seized a .357 Magnum revolver, six bullets and a gold necklace. His trial on charges of drug possession and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun is scheduled for December.
His attorney declined to comment.
