State investigators ID Frederick stabbing suspect, deputies who fatally shot him

BALTIMORE -- State investigators on Thursday identified a stabbing suspect and the deputies who shot and killed him earlier this week in Frederick.

Aaron Mensah, a 23-year-old man from Frederick, was shot and killed Tuesday by three deputies after he allegedly stabbed his parents, killing his father, the Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Attorney General's Office said. Mensah's mother survived the alleged attack.  

Deputy First Class Cassy Boettcher, Deputy Travis Stely, and Deputy Nathan McLeroy were identified as the deputies who shot Mensah. 

Deputies responded at 2:12 a.m. to the 5800 block of Haller Place after the suspect's sister reported the attack on her parents, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. 

There, deputies found the mother stabbed inside the home and the father stabbed outside, down the street from the home. 

Additional deputies found Mensah outside the home. He was allegedly ordered to drop a knife he was holding and was shot with a beanbag before he "rapidly moved toward" the deputies, officials said. That is when multiple officers deployed their tasers and three deputies opened fire. 

Mensah was pronounced dead on the scene. 

The Independent Investigations Division is tasked with investigating all deaths at the hands of Maryland law enforcement. It will compile a report on its investigation and hand it over to the Frederick County State Attorney's Office, which will make the decision of whether or not to pursue charges in the shooting.  

The division said the deputies who opened fire were not wearing body-worn cameras, but other officers were equipped with them and they "recorded portions of the incident." 

The IID is expected to release body camera footage within two weeks, unless the investigation required the footage to be held longer.