Baltimore Police fired 70 shots at man who reached for BB gun, officials say

Six Baltimore Police officers fired 70 shots at a man who appeared to lower his hand in the direction of what officers believed was a real gun following an 18-minute police pursuit, officials said Friday.

Maurice Daniels, 42, of Millersville, died at a hospital early Sunday morning after being struck by an unknown number of rounds.

Officials released footage of the fatal encounter Friday and provided context about what transpired.

Video captured by officers’ body cameras shows them surrounding a Dodge minivan that police believed had been involved in a carjacking in Baltimore County.

After Daniels briefly tried to exit the car, he got back in. Officers demanded he raise his hands. He originally complied.

An officer was preparing to use a glass-breaking tool to smash the driver’s side window when Daniels appeared to lower his right hand toward his midsection, the footage shows.

“Gun! Gun! Gun!” an officer yelled out.

Numerous shots followed.

Video shows Daniels motionless in the driver’s seat following the gunfire, the minivan pockmarked with bullet holes. Officials said officers rendered aid before medics took him to the hospital.

An officer recovered a BB gun from the car and said he took it from Daniels’ hand, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said. That officer did not shoot his weapon and was able to be interviewed by investigators, unlike the officers who opened fire and are entitled to attorneys while investigators look into the fatal shooting.

Worley called the shooting “concerning” but seemed to defend the officers.

“It looked like a real gun,” Worley said. “At that point, with the adrenaline going, remember they believe they have an armed carjacking subject.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Brian Nadeau said the BB gun was a replica of a Colt 1911 handgun and that it did not have an orange tip or any other markings distinguishing it from a real firearm.

The officers who fired — Sgt. Kevin Rivera and Officers Charles Blackman, David Weldon, Antonio Groomes, Darrius Hicklin and Al-Shakier Drake — are on administrative leave while investigators review the shooting.

Baltimore Police’s internal affairs department and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division, which probes all fatalities involving police in the state, are simultaneously looking into the shooting.

This story will be updated.