BALTIMORE — Two Frederick police officers were injured in a shooting after responding to a report of a “suspicious man,” who also was shot, Frederick officials said.
The officers, identified as Bryan Snyder and Kristen Kowalsky, are awake and in stable condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center after suffering gunshot wounds to their torsos, according to trauma surgeon Dr. Thomas Scalea. Dominique Lamarr Lewis, 25, who police referred to as a suspect, also was shot in the torso and underwent surgery at the Baltimore hospital.
Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando said officers were called around 12:50 p.m. to the area of Waverly Drive and Key Parkway for a report of a suspicious man with a firearm. Emergency medical services were called shortly after officers arrived at the intersection, Lando said during a news conference.
Police provided little information about the incident and did not specify who shot whom. Lando said the Independent Investigation Division in the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which investigates police shootings, is working jointly with Maryland State Police to investigate what led to the shooting.
During a press conference outside Shock Trauma, Lando referred questions about the shooting to those authorities. He said Frederick police are outfitted with body cameras, but wouldn’t confirm if Snyder and Kowalsky were wearing them at the time of the shooting.
“It’s a tough time right now to be a police officer and I’m very proud of the work that they do,” Lando said.
He’s thankful, he said, that Snyder and Kowalsky appear to be OK.
Snyder, 43, is in his second year of service with Frederick police, and Kowalsky, 32, is a nine-year veteran with the department. They were flown, along with Lewis, to Shock Trauma by two Maryland State Police helicopters, according to police.
Speaking outside the hospital Friday evening, Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor said the city experienced the “true danger these officers face every day across our country. My thoughts right now are with my police officers, with their families and with our department.”
Scalea expressed exasperation with the level of gun violence in the region, saying the hospital had admitted five shooting victims by the afternoon Wednesday.
“That’s nuts — that there is so much violence in the city, in the state — this is out of control,” he said. ”It’s so demoralizing to do this day after day.”
-------
