3 days of terror: How the manhunt for David Linthicum in Baltimore, Harford counties unfolded

In the span of three days in 2023, David Linthicum shot two Baltimore County Police officers and sparked a manhunt that shuttered schools, closed businesses and left people hiding scared in their homes.

Linthicum, 26, of Cockeysville, was found guilty in 2024 in Baltimore County Circuit Court of four counts of attempted first-degree murder and related crimes.

Deputy State’s Attorney John Cox and Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita argued that Linthicum tried to kill police officers who came to his home to help him and then terrorized the community. But his attorneys, Deborah Katz Levi and James Dills, contended that law enforcement botched their response to a mental health crisis.

Now, Circuit Judge Garrett P. Glennon Jr. on Tuesday is set to determine Linthicum’s fate at sentencing.

The Baltimore Banner obtained copies of the exhibits presented at trial, which help illustrate in detail how parts of the manhunt unfolded.

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023

The chaos started at about 2:30 p.m. with a 911 call.

John “Whit” Linthicum, David Linthicum’s father, told a dispatcher: “I have a son who’s being suicidal, and he has a gun.”

In the past, David Linthicum dealt with suicidal ideation, his attorneys said. One of them would later describe him as a “deeply sad, anxious and gentle person who desperately needed help.”

His mother, Sonja, is from Germany and is deaf. He experienced a language delay and learning disability as a child and attended the St. Paul’s Schools, Odyssey School and Jemicy School. And his parents went through a tumultuous and contentious divorce.

Police were sent to their home on Powers Avenue north of Sherwood Road in Cockeysville, an upscale community up the street from an assisted living facility and an African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The house is infamous. It’s where a 15-year-old, Nicholas Browning, in 2008 murdered his parents, John and Tamara, and younger brothers, Gregory and Benjamin, as they slept.

Officer April Burton was the first to arrive at the house, with Officer David Allen right behind her.

They walked up the driveway and encountered John Linthicum, who walked out of the house.

Body camera video captured what unfolded.

“Where is the gun?” Burton asked.

“I don’t know if it’s in the car, but I don’t know if he’s got more than one downstairs,” John Linthicum replied. “He’s talking about suicide. He wants to kill himself.”

“So we don’t know if there’s a second ...,” she pressed.

“I don’t know if there’s a second gun or not,” he responded.

Meanwhile, Officer Barry Jordan was conducting a business check at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley and buying flowers for his wife when he heard the call over the radio. He met up with the other two officers.

The three officers followed John Linthicum into the house, where he went to retrieve a screwdriver as Jordan continued to question him.

“Where do you think he is, sir?” Jordan asked. “Sir. Where do you think he is?”

Burton then knocked on the basement door five times.

“David. It’s Officer Arnett,” said Burton, who at the time had a different last name. “Can I talk to you?”

Next, John Linthicum used the screwdriver to pick the lock.

“Sir,” Jordan inquired. “What kind of gun is down there?”

“Maybe a rifle,” John Linthicum replied.

“What’s his name?”

“David.”

That’s when John Linthicum started to lead the way down into the basement. If his son was going to shoot someone, he remarked, he’d rather it would be him.

Police followed him.

When John Linthicum reached the entrance of his son’s bedroom, he stopped and remarked, “David. You’re going to shoot me?”

“F---,” Jordan uttered under his breath. “He’s got a gun.”

Seconds later, David Linthicum opened fire with an AR-15, unleashing an initial volley of 12 rounds. He then shot four more times as the officers ran up the stairs, according to trial testimony.

Over the radio, officers called out, “Shots fired!” They sprinted out of the house and took cover.

“Get out!” Jordan said. “Get out of the f------ house!”

Outside the home, Jordan noticed that he was bleeding and commented, “I think it’s just shrapnel on my love handles.”

But Burton later walked over to Jordan and checked him out.

“Barry,” Burton said, “you are hit.”

“OK,” Jordan responded.

“You are hit,” Burton said.

Allen ordered Jordan to get into a police SUV and drove him to an ambulance at a staging area.

Emergency medical services took Jordan to Sinai Hospital for treatment.

At some point, David Linthicum slipped out of the home. He was now on the run.

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Maryland State Police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, joined in the search.

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023

Right before 6 a.m., Baltimore County Public Schools announced that six schools near the Linthicum home — Cockeysville Middle, Dulaney High, Mays Chapel Elementary, Padonia International Elementary, Warren Elementary and Pot Spring Elementary schools — would be closed.

Speaking at a news conference at about 12:30 p.m., Joy Stewart, a spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department, told reporters that Jordan was released the previous night from the hospital.

Jordan, she said, was recovering at home. She added that he was in “good spirits.”

Stewart said the search for Linthicum “continues at this hour.”

“We would continue to ask members of the community to remain vigilant,” Stewart said. “If you see something suspicious, please report it to police.”

“If Mr. Linthicum is located, please don’t approach him,” she added. “Call 911.”

Ezra Van Auken heeded that message.

Van Auken was picking up a prescription at the Giant Food on York Road after class at the Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville when he saw two helicopters flying above him.

He had heard about the ongoing manhunt and decided to try to help. So, he drove toward a bridge on Warren Road that spans the Loch Raven Reservoir. He eventually spotted a man wearing a hoodie and khakis.

Van Auken told police about the sighting but believed they either did not take him seriously or doubted the accuracy of his account.

Before 9:30 p.m., Detective Jonathan Chih drove his police truck — a 2013 Ram 1500 — to check out a report of a hitchhiker on Warren Road.

“I’m out with him. I think he’s trying to hitchhike,” Chih called out over the radio. “I’m making contact.”

“What’s going on?” Chih asked. “What’s up?”

“Are you here to kill me?” David Linthicum responded.

“No,” Chih replied. “Why?”

That’s when David Linthicum fired 14 times, hitting Chih multiple times. Linthicum got in the detective’s pickup, peeled off and drove over a bridge that spans the Loch Raven Reservoir.

First responders arrived and took Chih to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Police pursued David Linthicum into Harford County. He later ditched the truck and ran into the woods near the Fallston Mall, where law enforcement surrounded him.

Friday, Feb. 10, 2023

At about 12:30 a.m., Interim Baltimore County Police Chief Dennis Delp asked people to keep both officers in their prayers.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. also thanked members of law enforcement.

“We see men and women who are still out there trying to apprehend a suspect who has wreaked way too much havoc in our communities,” Olszewski said. “I ask not just all of Baltimore County but anyone within earshot of my voice to lift up the officer in your prayers.”

Dr. Thomas Scalea, chief physician of the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said the hospital admitted Chih at about 10 p.m. with “multiple gunshot wounds to his torso and his extremities.”

“He’s going to need a significant amount of reconstruction,” Scalea said. “He’ll be with us for a while.”

Meanwhile, the standoff continued in the woods. A helicopter flew overheard.

Not long after 5:15 a.m., Harford County Sheriff’s Sgt. Matthew Anthony DeMarino started a conversation with David Linthicum in an attempt to build a connection so deputies could arrest him with the least possible amount of force.

“You want a fun fact?” DeMarino asked. “So before I was in this wonderful world, I used to be a chef.”

“Do you know who I was a chef for — this is no bull----,” he added. “Cal Ripken. I worked for him for 2 1/2 years as his personal chef.”

They continued to go back and forth about soups and different types of sauces.

Just after 5:30 a.m., Harford County Public Schools canceled classes at nearby Youth’s Benefit Elementary, Fallston Middle and Fallston High schools because of the ongoing police activity and a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding community.

Law enforcement moved in at about 5:45 a.m. and without incident took David Linthicum into custody. He asked why they could not just kill him.

Before 7 a.m., Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler told reporters at a news conference that his deputies handled the situation professionally and brought it to a successful conclusion.

“Our community is safer this morning with this individual in custody,” Gahler said, “where he belongs.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.