Officer Killed By Friendly Fire In Nightclub Shooting
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—It appears a Baltimore City police officer was shot by a fellow officer's weapon. The shooting also left another man dead.
Derek Valcourt is following this complex investigation.
It's official: only police guns were fired that night---a total of 41 shots in all.
Officer William Torbit, 33, was shot and killed by his fellow officers who responded to his calls for help to break up a brawl outside of the Select Lounge Nightclub on Paca Street around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Police say officers fired a total of 41 shots, killing two people and wounding four others.
"I want to express my most sincere and deepest condolences," said Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.
Bealefeld didn't answer any questions from the media Monday night and only made a brief statement. In it, he asked for privacy for Torbit's family, saying he expects the investigation will take a full three weeks.
"We owe it to all the victims to be thorough and complete and to only release confirmed facts," Bealefeld said.
Also killed was 22-year-old Sean Gamble, a father, fiance and member of the Baltimore Saints semi-professional football team who graduated from Woodlawn High School in 2005 and sang for the school choir.
"Whether he was competing on the football field or whether he was singing and even the care that he displayed for his fellow students, he always had a lot of heart," said Baltimore County music teacher Heather Caulton.
"He was extremely talented. He had a lot going for him," said Gamble's friend Robert Mason.
Gamble's longtime friends say he'd never had trouble with the law before and question the actions of the police who shot him.
"I want to get to the bottom of this because I just feel that this should not have happened," Mason said.
Police have identified four other officers involved in the shooting: Harry Dodge, Harry Pawley, Toyia Williams and Latora Craig.
Friends and family held a massive candelight vigil for Sean Gamble at 7 p.m. Monday at Woodlawn High School.
