Slain Maryland Cop Inadvertently Shot by Fellow Officer During Gun Battle With Suspect, Police Say

[Recursion]

Source: ABC

A Maryland police officer killed in the line of duty was inadvertently shot by a fellow responding officer after a gunman allegedly ambushed a police stationhouse in an "unprovoked" attack, cops said.

...

Police said the alleged gunman "intended to die at the hand of a police officer" and had dictated his last will and testament on a cellphone video just minutes before his brothers drove him to the stationhouse.

...

Colson, a four-year veteran assigned to the Prince George’s County Narcotic Division, was on his way to the police station to meet an officer and arrived at the station right after a gunman began shooting there Sunday, police said. He was not wearing body armor at the time, police said.

Colson, who was in plain clothes, left his unmarked cruiser and began exchanging gunfire with the shooter, police said. A total of six officers responded, and four officers, including Colson, opened fire, police said.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/slain-maryland-cop-inadvertently-shot-fellow-officer-police/story?id=37642095

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Hmm.

Reading between the lines there goes to very bad places...

[iandhr]

1. So sad

[elleng]

2. :-(

[kwassa]

3. The perp's brothers were there to record the crime for posterity.

in an incredibly twisted piece of behavior. They have also been charged.

[Recursion]

4. Did the perp actually shoot anybody?

The media is saying it was an attempted suicide by cop that got a black plainclothes cop shot by a uniform.

[elleng]

5. 'Colson, who was in plain clothes, left his unmarked cruiser and began exchanging gunfire

with the shooter, police said. A total of six officers responded, and four officers, including Colson, opened fire, police said.'

[kwassa]

13. The perpetrator tried.

That's all that mattered.

[Recursion]

14. In terms of his murder charge, agreed

I just mean this looks even worse if they only person who actually hit anybody was a cop, shooting the wrong (black) person.

[kwassa]

15. It does look bad ...

But gun battles don't happen like the movies.

PG police have many issues, too. The last suspect accused of killing a cop died mysteriously in custody.

[elleng]

16. 'gun battles don't happen like the movies.'

They sure don't.

[elmac]

6. Very sad

[NobodyHere]

7. What the hell kind of brothers are these?

Who drives their own brother to his death and then records it?

4 lives wasted here.

[JoeOtterbein]

8. Evil x 3 + 3 Cops = 1 Dead Cop and plenty of blame to spread around

and so horrible...

[cstanleytech]

9. I can see attempted murder charges but how do the figure 2nd degree ones since the cops

screwed up and were the ones that shot and killed another cop?

[Recursion]

10. If someone you didn't intend to kill dies because you attempted murder of someone else

then that's murder (Maryland doesn't have a separate felony murder statute). 2nd degree in Maryland is intentional killing without premeditation, which means they're claiming the attempted murder on the cop he did shoot at was intentional but not premeditated (and the liability for murder follows the bullets that were returned at him).

[TipTok]

11. It's like felony murder...

Came about as a direct result of his crime...

[cstanleytech]

12. *scratches head* Still seems weird.

[Recursion]

19. Here's the textbook example

Alice wants to murder Bob, and takes her friend Charlie along to help her.

Alice shoots at Bob and misses. Bob shoots back in self defense, but instead of hitting Alice, hits Charlie. Charlie dies.

That is a murder on Alice, because it was a death resulting from the attempted murder Alice was committing.

This legal theory goes back literally centuries at this point.

[cstanleytech]

20. That still seems wierd to charge Alice with murder for that since Charlie was involved in

trying to kill Bob not to mention this to me seems more of case of Alice brought Charlie along to kill Bob and Bob shot back but shot his friend Dave by accident.

[Recursion]

22. It does seem weird, but the legal precedent predates even the magna carta

That's about as established as law gets.

[Zira]

17. I doubt the police officer shot him by "accident"

I suspect it became an "accident" when the officer discovered that he had shot a black man in plain clothes who had a gun and found out he was not one of the suspects but another officer. I think there is a high probability of racial profiling in his death. However, I am not sure how it could have been avoided in this gun battle.

[Recursion]

18. Yeah. Hence "between the lines"

[MariaThinks]

21. a black cop killed by white police officers from what i can tell.

[Old Vet]

23. How the hell do so many cops miss the shooter?

And fatally shoot one of there own, Sounds like a barney fife gunfight. This stinks on so many levels......