LANHAM, Md. (AP) - Police said a man and his family member died Tuesday in Maryland after the man fired at officers responding to a call about a suicidal person and then stole a police vehicle before striking the family member with the cruiser.
The man shot at the officers, who returned fire, when they responded to the call in Lanham around 1:00 a.m. about a suicidal person “possibly with a gun,” the Prince George’s County Police Department said in a Twitter post.
Interim Police Chief Hector Velez said in a news conference that the officers were called after the man was “banging” on a door.
“When our officers approached the area, they immediately came under gunfire. And this happened so quick that one of our officers was still in his vehicle,” Velez said.
When a bullet came through his windshield, the officer got out and took cover behind another police vehicle. Velez said the suspect then jumped into the unoccupied police cruiser and drove away, only to turn around and come back at them.
By then, a female relative of the man was in the middle of the road, trying to “deescalate the situation,” Velez said. The man hit her with the cruiser, then drove around the police vehicles, turned a corner and sideswiped two New Carrolton police vehicles before crashing head-on into a third. The New Carrolton officers then “engaged” with the man and took him into custody, Velez said.
Velez said it’s not clear when the man was shot. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The woman also died. Police have not revealed their identities.
“Things like this are tragic,” Velez said. “We have a family that has lost two family members.”
The Prince George’s County officers were not injured. One New Carrollton officer suffered minor injuries during one of the crashes, Velez said.
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