ELKTON, Md. (AP) - The Latest on two people shot to death by police as officers were serving warrants at a motel room, according to authorities (all times local):
5:40 p.m.
Authorities say a man and woman who were shot to death by Maryland police when they refused to drop their weapons were armed with BB guns, not handguns as originally thought.
Maryland State Police say the couple was on the run from gun charges when police approached them at a Cecil County motel to serve arrest warrants.
Police spokesman Greg Shipley identified the pair as Brandon Jones and Chelsea Porter, who were wanted on warrants issued by Delaware State Police for drug and gun offenses.
Shipley said the couple pointed what police believed were handguns at the offers and repeatedly refused to follow orders to drop them and surrender.
Shipley says investigators are working to determine how many officers fired and from what jurisdictions. He says said one officer has been identified as a Maryland State Police trooper, and the officer has been placed on administrative leave.
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4:00 p.m.
Delaware State Police say the fatal shooting of a man and woman at a Maryland motel is connected to an investigation in neighboring Delaware.
Cpl. Jeffrey Hale says his agency had asked Maryland State Police to help find a couple wanted on Delaware drug and firearm charges stemming from an incident last week in Dover.
Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley says officers were serving those warrants Tuesday morning in Elkton, Maryland, when the confrontation occurred.
Shipley says officers shot a man who came out of the motel room, raised a gun at officers and refused to drop it.
He says the woman was shot after doing the same thing a few seconds later.
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2:30 p.m.
Maryland State Police say officers fatally shot a man and woman outside a motel room after they raised handguns at police who were there to serve warrants.
Spokesman Greg Shipley says no officers were hurt Tuesday at the New Eastern Inn in Elkton, about 45 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Shipley says investigators are trying to learn if the people killed are those named in the warrants for felony possession of firearms.
He says officers from two law enforcement agencies went to the second-floor room around 10 a.m., knocked on the balcony door and announced themselves as police officers.
Shipley says a man came out, raised a gun at officers and refused to drop it, so they fired.
He says the woman was shot after doing the same thing a few seconds later.
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1:45 p.m.
Police have lifted a shelter-in-place advisory near an Elkton, Maryland, motel where at least two people were wounded as gunfire erupted while state police were serving a warrant.
Elkton police lifted the advisory Tuesday afternoon as the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office reopened some traffic lanes near the New Eastern Inn.
Some officers appear to be preparing to leave the scene, although a heavy law enforcement presence remains around the motel in the city of 15,000 about 45 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Reporters are awaiting a briefing from Maryland State Police. An Associated Press reporter observed what appeared to be a body lying on an outdoor balcony, covered by a yellow sheet.
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1:30 p.m.
A Cecil County official says at least two people were hurt when gunfire broke out as Maryland State Police served a warrant at a motel.
The News Journal reports (https://delonline.us/2erkmU6 ) that Emergency Services Director Richard Brooks said Tuesday that officials believe a third person is holed up in a room at the New Eastern Inn in Elkton.
Brooks says gunfire erupted Tuesday morning as police served a warrant. He says two people are injured near the room and officials believe a third person is inside the room.
He says police are waiting for additional resources to “take their tactical moves to resolve the situation.”
There is a heavy police presence in the area. Brooks says nearby roads are closed and officials are taking precautions to secure nearby neighborhoods and businesses.
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