After witnessing deadly shooting, 4 Baltimore City school police officers temporarily reassigned
BALTIMORE -- Four off-duty Baltimore City School Police officers who were present at the scene of a deadly quadruple shooting over the weekend have been temporarily reassigned amid the investigation into what happened, WJZ learned Thursday.
The officers were nearby about 1:45 a.m. Sunday when gunfire erupted in the 5500 block of Harford Road, Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland State Fraternal Order of Police and president of the Baltimore City School Police union, told WJZ.
Four people were wounded in the gunfire, including a 40-year-old man who died of his injuries and a woman who was hospitalized in critical condition after she was shot in the head, police said.
The man was identified as Stephen Walker.
Two other shooting victims are expected to survive.
Several first responders could be heard in radio transmissions about the incident. One called for additional paramedics and another let the fire department know that it might be a mass-casualty incident, as WJZ previously reported.
None of the officers has been accused of any wrongdoing and there is no reason to believe that any of them was involved or targeted in the deadly shooting, Sgt. Boatwright told WJZ.
"They just happened to be at the location when this happened," Boatwright said. "I don't believe nor is there any evidence to suggest that they were targeted."
The sergeant noted that the officers' temporary reassignment is not a suspension, saying they continue to report to work and are still being paid.
"This has nothing to do with their employment as police officers," he said. "It's just the mere fact that when you are in some way connected to these types of situations, police departments should take proactive steps to make sure that they look at everything."
WJZ was first to report Tuesday that at least one school resource officer was present and rendered aid at the time of the shooting. Boatwright confirmed the number of officers present and their statuses during a Thursday phone interview.
"It's customary in these types of situations that police departments take the proactive steps of looking at everything involved in this," he said. "And in this case, our chief of police made the determination to temporarily reassign those four officers."
The officers, who are normally assigned to patrol duties, have been working in an administrative capacity during their temporary reassignment, Boatwright said. But he expects them to return to their normal duties soon.
"I can't put a timetable because that's not our role, but I look forward to it soon, because we can all see the actions taken by these officers," he said. "And it should be very, very soon."
No suspects, arrests or motives in the shooting have been released.
Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.