Charges won’t be filed in a fatal police shooting of a man armed with a knife who attempted to punch officers during a domestic response in Baltimore County last December, according to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

Howard Sye, 31, was shot in the stairwell outside his apartment in Essex on Dec. 3, 2025, after Baltimore County officers responded to a 911 call for a stabbing. Investigators said Sye failed to comply with commands to drop a knife he was holding. He then attempted to punch an officer who tried to take the knife from his hand, according to authorities.

At that point, four officers — Malia Hooper, Trent LaPosta, Hunter Cortes and Nicolas Vagnier — shot at Sye, and he fell to the ground. Sye was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to authorities.

The Office of the Attorney General said the officers did not commit a crime under state law.

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Police found Sye’s sister inside his apartment with a stab wound.

Family questions police response

Sye’s other sister told CBS News Baltimore that the officers were too aggressive in their response.

“My family called the police to get help. If we’d known it was going to end like this, we’d have probably tried to take matters into our own hands, like driving my sister to the hospital or something of that nature,” Tiffany Elliott said. “My sister called for help, and they failed us.”

Family members said Sye suffered from mental health issues and they were calling for police to de-escalate the situation. Elliott said her brother was out of his character the night he was shot by police.

“He was a family man, so for him to actually even stab our sister, all of us are in disbelief,” she said. “This isn’t the type of behavior from Howard at all.”

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Elliott questioned police officers’ handling of the response and called for accountability.

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner. See the original report.