Body camera videos show police shoot and kill armed man in West Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore police released multiple body-worn camera videos showing officers shooting and killing a man during an encounter in West Baltimore on October 9.
The encounter began when Robert Nedd Jr. crashed his car into several other vehicles on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Sergeant Thomas Gross arrived and asked him to sit on the curb.
Fourteen seconds after Nedd sits down, as Gross is calling for a medic to check him out, he takes off running toward a wooded area off Argyle Avenue and crouches near a fence.
"Sit up. Let me see your hands! Don't move. Don't move! Let me see your hands. Put your hands up!" Gross yells.
The sergeant radios that he believes Nedd has something in his hands.
Backup quickly arrived.
Three officers who fired their weapons are on routine administrative leave.
The shooting
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren asked Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley how many times Nedd was struck and whether Nedd fired his weapon during the incident.
"I don't know how many times he was struck. There were 19 shots fired. We don't believe that he fired his weapon but did have a weapon that had 15 rounds in it," Worley responded.
Worley also said of Nedd, "He wasn't suspected of anything other than being in a car accident, but when someone runs from the police, that usually means they do not want to talk to the police. And as we found out, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm, and he had one on his person."
"They made a decision"
Police showed a video highlighted with a red circle that they said showed a gun in Nedd's hand when he was shot.
"For everybody's safety, the officers saw what they saw, and they made a decision," Worley said.
He told WJZ officers were in the community for "proactive enforcement addressing community concerns about drug dealing and guns."
Early release from prison
According to court records WJZ obtained, Judge James K. Bredar, who oversees Baltimore police reform under the consent decree, recently signed an order to allow Nedd out of federal prison 17 months early.
Nedd had been convicted of possessing a loaded semiautomatic handgun in a case dating to 2014.
In that case, prosecutors said he was part of a takedown of Black Guerilla Family gang members.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Nedd had only been out of prison for 49 days before he was killed.
Gun was a gift
Nedd told police the gun was a gift for his protection after he had been released from prison earlier, according to the statement of facts in a plea agreement.
Nedd was prohibited from possessing a weapon.
"While we are still in the early phase of this investigation, I want to reiterate that we are committed to ensuring a thorough investigation into the incident along with the attorney general's office," Worley said.