Only On WJZ: Mother Of Suspect Killed In NE Baltimore Speaks; 2 Officers Still Recovering After Being Shot
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police are investigating how two officers were wounded while serving a felony warrant on Radecke Avenue in northeast Baltimore just after noon Wednesday.
The injured officers—one from Baltimore City, the other from Baltimore County—were part of a task force of state, federal and local law enforcement.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Here's What The Task Force Officers Who Were Shot During Wednesday's Police-Involved Shooting Do Day To Day
- 'Tourniquets Save Lives' | Doctors Encourage Residents To Take 'Stop The Bleed Course' In Wake Of Officer-Involved Shooting
- Officers Shot In Baltimore Were Trying To Serve A Felony Warrant On Michael Marullo
- 'Bomb Going Off' | Residents Stunned After 2 Officers In NE Baltimore Neighborhood
- 'Their Daily Sacrifice Does Not Go Underappreciated' | Officials Praise Officers Injured In NE Baltimore Shooting
- 2 Officers Shot While Serving Warrant In Northeast Baltimore, Suspect Was Former State Correctional Official
The mother of the suspect in the case, Susan Marullo, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren she spoke to her son before he was killed and had no idea anything was wrong.
"It's just heart-wrenching. I just want to get to the bottom of this. I'm a mother on a mission here right now," Susan Marullo said.
She told Hellgren she learned about what happened to her son from her local paper in Scranton, Pennsylvania. "Everything is just spinning for me right now. The police didn't tell us anything."
Marullo was wanted on nine charges in Lower Chichester Township outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Authorities accused him of shooting at the grandfather of his children the night before the incident in Baltimore.
"I'm telling you, something just happened here, and I want to find out what it is. But I want to bring him home first," Marullo said. "I'm proud to be his mother despite everything. There are things that just aren't making sense here."
She said her son did live at the property in Northeast Baltimore where he was killed. "My concern right now is to take him home and bury him."
Police say they recovered the weapon the suspect had in his possession—and confirm that shots were fired, but WJZ has learned there was no exchange of gunfire between police and the suspect.
Right now, police are still trying to determine how the officers were wounded. This is part of an active and ongoing investigation. Questions surround whether the suspect ever fired his weapon.
Police did not provide an update on the investigation Thursday.
At a press conference outside Shock Trauma Wednesday, Commissioner Michael Harrison told reporters, "At some point, this suspect was outside. What we know is that shots were fired. Our officers were hit. The suspect was hit."
Thomas Maronick, Jr is a Baltimore defense attorney who recently represented Marullo. He told Hellgren, "I'm stunned—absolutely stunned to hear this happened. We represented Mr. Marullo not long ago—about ten days before this—and he was acquitted. He was acquitted in a malicious destruction of property case."
He said he did not notice anything unusual about Marullo. "Michael was amiable. He was responsive, very pleasant—everything you would hope for in a criminal defense client."
Maronick also said it is "absolutely critical" that authorities conduct a thorough investigation in this case.
"We were in the process of seeking an expungement for him and the next thing you know he's a suspect in this shooting and he's dead."
There has been an outpouring of support for the wounded officers.
The injured Baltimore City Officer has been released from Shock Trauma.
