What happened after Baltimore Police shot a knife-wielding veteran in crisis

A Navy veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder leaned on a cane as she entered a courtroom in downtown Baltimore on Thursday.

In January, Baltimore Police shot Autumn Elizabeth Denny in both of her legs as she approached officers with a knife while experiencing a mental health crisis. And now, Denny was being forced to answer for her own role despite her injuries.

The 48-year-old faced charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer and carrying a dangerous weapon.

Nobody but Denny was physically injured during the encounter in her Bolton Hill apartment building. But Baltimore’s top prosecutor said the prosecution was warranted “due to the defendant’s actions creating a serious and dangerous situation that required immediate intervention.”

However, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates’ office decided to strike a deal, which Bates described as compassionate, with Denny.

“We believe this outcome promotes rehabilitation, addresses the underlying issues that contributed to this incident, and helps protect both the defendant and the community moving forward,” Bates said in a statement.

Denny pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to one misdemeanor count of wielding a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure.

Circuit Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. accepted the deal and granted Denny probation before judgment, meaning her plea won’t count as a conviction if she successfully completes probation.

Denny was also sentenced to five years probation and a mandate she continue her mental health treatment at Johns Hopkins.

Denny’s attorney thanked the judge for accepting the plea, but after court questioned whether her client should’ve ended up in a courtroom.

On Jan. 19, Baltimore Police officers went to Denny’s apartment building in Bolton Hill around 10:30 a.m. in response to calls about a behavioral crisis, Assistant State’s Attorney Robyn Bassett said in court Thursday.

Denny had activated the building’s fire alarm and used a knife to slash her neighbors’ doors, Bassett said. At one point, she locked herself in her ninth-floor apartment and refused officers demands that she drop the knife and open her door.

Body camera footage released by Baltimore Police showed Denny march towards officers and threaten them with a large knife. One officer, Kevin Wilson, opened fire.

Bassett said Denny was struck in the right thigh and lower left leg.

The shooting renewed attention to Baltimore Police’s responses to people in mental distress, which is both a focus of its federally mandated court oversight and a subject of City Council debate. Critics say too many of these tense interactions end with the distressed person dead. Last week, officers fatally shot a man in mental crisis who opened fire on them in Southwest Baltimore.

Denny’s attorney Elizabeth Franzoso told the judge on Thursday that her client was in the Navy for 20 years, including several tours overseas. Denny, who was medically discharged in 2024, suffers from “severe PTSD,” depression and other mental illnesses, according to Franzoso.

After court, Franzoso bemoaned that police “feel the need to shoot someone who’s in crisis.”

“It’s a sad state to see our veterans treated this way,” she said.

Denny didn’t have much to add.

“I wish it had gone better,” she said, hobbling off with her attorney to report to a probation office.