Baltimore Police Investigate Shooting of Unarmed Black Man Fired on by Officers Responding to Domestic Incident
Baltimore police are investigating the shooting death of an unarmed black man where officers responding to a call of a domestic disturbance fired at least 19 shots.
According to Yahoo, the shooting took place in the Baltimore suburb of Owing Place around 1 a.m. on Thursday and involved three law enforcement officers. The incident comes just two months after the police involved killing of 25-year-old city resident Freddie Gray rocked the city and sparked protests and some violence all across town.
In the latest incident, authorities have identified the dead man as 41-year-old Spencer Lee McCain. On Saturday, Baltimore County police added the city's homicide unit is now leading the investigation surrounding his death.
A statement provided by police only identified the officers involved as Wilkes, Besaw and Stargel, with a department spokesman insisting supplying first names or ages of the officers are prohibited by union bylaws. According to Yahoo, a search of department salary records show six-year veteran Shenell Wilkes, eight-year man Jonathan Besaw and five-year veteran Shannon Stargel as the only employees with those last names.
Reports are the officers were called to the Owings Mills area home and had to force their way into the residence after arriving and overhearing a disturbance. The officers claimed they thought McCain had a weapon, prompting them to open fire. In all, 19 shell casings were found, but the exact number of shots fired by the officers remains unknown.
McCain was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. All of the officers have since been placed on administrative leave, pending an internal review by department officials.
A woman and two children were also in the home at the time of the incident, and police later claimed the woman had suffered injuries. Reportedly, McCain was under a protective order barring him from having contact with the woman or from coming to the home.
In the Gray incident, six officers have since been indicted in connection with his death.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com