16-year-old arrested, 3 others in custody after slaying of Md. officer
PERRY HALL, Md. -- A 16-year-old boy was arrested after the slaying of a Baltimore County, Maryland, police officer, and three other suspects who were at large are now in custody, according to authorities. A Maryland prosecutor said the 16-year-old suspect is being charged with murder and treated as an adult.
Baltimore County officials identified the 16-year-old as Dawnta Anthony Harris. Scott Shellenberger, the state's attorney for Baltimore County, told The Associated Press that the suspect is scheduled to appear before a judge at a Towson courthouse at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
A statement of probable cause dated Tuesday identified the officer as Amy Caprio. Baltimore County officials said via Twitter that she was a nearly four-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department.
The three other suspects in custody are teenage males, authorities tweeted.
"Detectives have verified that the group were involved in burglaries in the area," a Baltimore County Police and Fire Department tweet said. "Officers will be in the area today to canvass for property stolen during these burglaries."
An earlier tweet said the 16-year-old teen was arrested shortly after the officer was fatally injured Monday. The police tweet did not explain the delay in announcing the teen's apprehension.
Baltimore County Police Cpl. Shawn Vinson said Monday evening that an enormous manhunt was taking place unabated in the suburban community of Perry Hall, Maryland, where witnesses reported hearing a pop before seeing a Jeep run over the officer Monday afternoon. The officer was bleeding badly from significant injuries. CBS Baltimore reported that she was taken to Medstar Franklin Square hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m.
An autopsy will determine her cause of death.
Harris, who was arrested near where a Jeep was found abandoned, told a detective he had been waiting in the driver's seat of the vehicle as other associates of his were in the process of committing a burglary, according to the probable cause statement.
Harris also told the detective that he "drove at the officer," the statement said.
The records don't list an attorney for Harris, and attempts to people believed to be his family members were not immediately successful.
Vinson said investigators have recovered the suspects' abandoned Jeep, but police declined to confirm whether it was used to injure the officer.
Relatives of the officer, who would have been on the force four years by July, have been notified.
The officer is the 11th to die in the line of duty in Baltimore County, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which showed a tally of 10 prior to Monday's incident.
Tony Kurek told The Associated Press his adult son was outside in the family's yard Monday afternoon in the northeast Baltimore County community when the son saw the officer with her gun drawn, confronting the occupants of a Jeep.
"The next thing he heard was a pop, and he saw the Jeep take off and run right over her," said Kurek. The car left skid marks behind, he said, leaving the officer down and bleeding.
Logan Kurek, who is a volunteer firefighter, said he heard his younger brother "frantically screaming" and ran outside to perform CPR.
Vinson said the officer went to investigate a call about a suspicious vehicle when she encountered at least one suspect and was "critically injured." He added that the confrontation may have stemmed from a burglary in progress, noting one home on the block had damage to a patio door.
"What exactly happened, we are not sure yet until an autopsy is performed," Vinson said at a news conference Monday. He said he had no information about whether she had fired her own weapon.
He added that a homicide investigation has been opened. Officers were searching for suspects "who we believe are armed and dangerous," Police Chief Terrence Sheridan said.
Events began unfolding Monday afternoon in the leafy neighborhood of single-family homes. It was then that Kurek's neighbor, Dahle Amendt, said he had just settled into his recliner for a rest when he heard a woman's voice outside his house.
"I heard, 'Get out of the car!' 'Get out of the car!' Get out of the car!' at least three times, and then a pop," Amendt said.
Amendt said his wife also ran outside and tried to revive the officer.
"This is a shock. It's a quiet community. It's just so sad," Amendt said.
Investigators urged residents in a sizable swath of Perry Hall to stay hunkered down inside their homes and lock all doors and windows as officers searched the community fringed with woodlands. Three elementary schools were kept on alert status for hours, with students and teachers told to stay in their school buildings as police searched for the suspects. By Monday evening, parents were allowed to come to the schools to pick up their youngsters.
School officials tweeted overnight that all Baltimore County public schools would open on time Tuesday.
