Video shows man run toward and fire gun at Baltimore Police officers before fatal shooting

Baltimore Police Officer Sharod Watson was doing routine patrol near Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital on May 14 when something struck his vehicle, startling him.

“Gentleman on the corner was just shooting at me right at Wilkens and Caton Avenue,” Watson said into his radio before describing the man. “I’m keeping my distance. Looked like he had a small revolver.”

A fellow patrol officer, Mark Rankine, reported that his vehicle had sustained damage from gunfire too.

Within moments, both officers opened fire on Louis Jackson, who had run at Watson and fired a revolver at him during an apparent mental health crisis, according to body camera footage released by Baltimore Police Friday afternoon.

Jackson, 46, died at nearby Saint Agnes. His death marked the fourth time that Baltimore Police fatally shot someone this year.

The shooting by both officers is under investigation by the Maryland attorney general’s Independent Investigations Division, which investigates all fatalities involving police, as well as Baltimore Police internal investigation.

Watson, a 13-year Baltimore Police veteran, and Rankine, who has been with the agency for three years, are on routine administrative duty while internal and state investigators examine the shooting, Deputy Police Commissioner Brian Nadeau told reporters Friday.

After being fired at, Watson pulled over in the 3300 block of Wilkens Avenue, the body camera footage shows. He took cover behind his patrol car as the man, who police later identified as Jackson, ran across the road in his direction.

“Get down. Get on the ground!” Watson yelled.

Jackson refused Watson’s command and fired his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver four times.

Watson and Rankine returned fire, striking Jackson. The footage showed him collapse on the ground.

Nadeau said Watson fired three times and Rankine fired five shots.

“Shots fired. Suspect down,” Rankine said.

Jackson flailed on the ground then went still.

“We’re good. We’re good. I’m trying to render aid,” Watson said into his radio. “Going to start compressions.”

Unbeknownst to the officers, who were both assigned to the Southern District, was that Jackson was the subject of an attempted suicide call in the nearby Southwest District, officials said Friday.

Officers in the Southwest District had responded around 9:17 a.m. to an apartment for the attempted suicide, but the man in question had left the building. Officials said it wouldn’t have taken him long to cross over to the neighboring Southern Police District, where they said he fired at the officers in their cars. The fatal encounter happened at 9:22 a.m.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley said officers from one police district don’t hear calls directed specifically to another district.

“Unfortunately, he crossed district lines,” Worley said of Jackson.

The shooting renewed attention to the Baltimore Police Department’s response to people in mental crisis. Critics say the person in distress too often ends up dead during interactions with officers. The subject is both a focus of its federally mandated court oversight and a subject of City Council debate.

Statewide, nearly 1 in 4 people killed by police since 2021 were experiencing a mental health crisis, according to a report from the attorney general’s office.

Rankine is among the approximately 30% of patrol officers who have taken specialized training on how to respond to people in mental crisis. Watson is not.

But Worley said Friday it likely wouldn’t have made a difference if the officers had additional mental health training because the situation evolved rapidly and the officers’ lives were in danger.

While Worley acknowledged that Jackson’s death was a “tragic incident for all involved,” he said he couldn’t “stress how great of a job our cops did. Remaining calm, doing everything they could do to deescalate.”

“Our officers did everything they could not to shoot that individual, but when someone is running at you shooting a gun, you have to respond,” Worley said.

This article has been updated.