A man is dead after a traffic stop in Bel Air on Saturday night turned into a fatal police encounter.
Bel Air Police said an officer conducting a traffic stop in the 300 block of Franklin Street just before 9 p.m. got into a “physical altercation” during the stop, leading them to shoot the man.
A preliminary review by the Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division determined that the officer fired his service weapon and struck the driver. Officers rendered aid until emergency medical services arrived.
The driver, later identified by the Maryland attorney general’s office as 57-year-old Francisco Aparicio-Munoz of Bel Air, was flown to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead. The officer was also taken to a hospital to be treated before being released.
The attorney general’s office on Tuesday identified the officer as Christopher Birch, who has been with the Bel Air Police Department for two months and has three years of law enforcement experience overall. He is assigned to the uniformed patrol division.
It’s unclear why the officer conducted the stop and how the interaction became physical.
Bel Air Police did not immediately respond to The Banner’s inquiry.
This article has been updated.



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