David Linthicum's defense criticizes police response that led to shooting of Baltimore County officers

BALTIMORE -- David Linthicum, who is accused of shooting two Baltimore County police officers in February 2023, chose not to testify in his defense on Tuesday.

The defense rested after blaming the police for their response at a suicidal subject's home, which led to the shooting of the officers. Linthicum is on trial for attempted murder charges.

Jurors will hear closing arguments and instructions before beginning their deliberations Wednesday at the circuit court in Towson.   

During the trial, jurors saw videos of the violent encounters and got a glimpse of the AR-15 rifle that was used in the shooting. WJZ obtained the body-worn camera videos from officers used as the centerpiece of the prosecution's case.  

Officer Barry Jordan was injured in the shooting in Linthicum's home. Detective Jonathan Chih was shot after coming into contact with Linthicum the next day.

Botched police response? 

Linthicum's attorneys called several witnesses Tuesday, including Ezra Van Auken, who testified that minutes before Detective Chih was shot, he passed Linthicum along Warren Road and immediately reported the sighting to police. 

"They looked at me," he told jurors. "I guess they were unsure how accurate I was. It didn't seem like they took what I said seriously."

It bolsters what Linthicum's defense alleges was a bungled police response to their client's mental health crisis.

The defense later called a rebuttal witness, a corporal who said Van Auken never told him he thought it was Linthicum.

How it started 

In February 2023, Linthicum's father, John Linthicum, called police to say his son was armed and suicidal. 

Responding police followed the father into his home on Powers Avenue in Cockeysville, where he opened a locked door to the basement and headed down the stairs, telling officers he wanted to go first in case his son opened fire. 

They encountered David Linthicum holding a rifle and sitting on his bed. Almost immediately, the defendant opened fire, striking Officer Jordan, who then fled outside to safety. 

Linthicum then went on the run, where one day later prosecutors allege he shot Detective Chih and stole his police truck before fleeing to Harford County where he was eventually captured. 

Defense attorney Deborah Katz Levi called the commander in charge of Baltimore County police internal affairs, Major Matthew Gorman, to the witness stand and questioned him about why police have yet to complete an investigation into the incident. 

Levi asked about an after-action critique Gorman wrote that found the decisions some officers made "despite good intentions exacerbated the situation."

"What I'm hearing is there's all these policies the police have, and they're supposed to be following. They're not following anything," the defendant's father John Linthicum told reporters during an afternoon break in the testimony. 

Ring video of suspect 

During the manhunt, police obtained a neighbor's Ring camera video showing Linthicum leaving his house. The defense pointed out they did not act on it for hours. 

The clip is less than 30 seconds long. Levi alleged prosecutors were not being forthcoming with the full video, allegations they denied. Prosecutors said they only obtained the video Tuesday morning and almost immediately turned it over to the defense. 

Ripken connection

Defense attorneys also called Sergeant Matthew DeMarino, with the Harford County Sheriff's Office, who negotiated with Linthicum before his capture in a wooded area in Fallston. 

DeMarino, a former personal chef for Orioles' great Cal Ripken Jr., testified that he talked about his former job to build a rapport with David Linthicum so the situation would end peacefully.

He told the jury, "If I could make that connection with him, he may decide to walk out of the woods."

Policing expert

The final defense witness was Dr. Tyrone Powers, an expert in policing, who said officers should not have gone into the basement to confront Linthicum during the initial call to his home in Cockeysville. 

"You don't want to escalate or aggravate that situation," he told the jury.