BALTIMORE (AP) - A Baltimore man who police say repeatedly threatened to kill officers responding to a report of an assault was found dead early Monday after at least one officer fired shots at him during an hourslong barricade.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, who reviewed footage from cameras worn by police, told reporters at least two shots apparently were fired after officers arrived.
When asked if the suspect was armed, Harrison said investigators were still processing the scene in northwest Baltimore.
“I’m confident that there is information for the officers to believe that he did have a firearm. But we have not interviewed the officers as of yet,” he told reporters at police headquarters.
Harrison said the officers who responded late Sunday interacted with the man by a door before he retreated inside, and “repeatedly threatened to kill the officers if they came any closer.”
Shortly after midnight, the suspect emerged by a rear door and one of the officers fired in his direction, causing him to retreat inside again, Harrison said. No officers were injured. Police have not identified the names or races of the responding officers.
Hostage negotiators and SWAT team officers were activated. After several hours, a woman came outside the home and told police the suspect was “sleeping” inside, according to Harrison.
SWAT team members then found the suspect unresponsive and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Harrison asserted that all the protocols for a police shooting were followed and more information would be released amid an ongoing investigation. Members of the consent decree monitoring team observed part of the standoff. Baltimore is under a federal oversight program requiring sweeping police reforms.
Police have not named the dead man, but relatives at the scene identified him as Kevin Mason. His body was carried outside by crime scene workers after dawn.
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