Maryland State Police Beat: suspect who rammed Frederick police cruiser in busy Sheetz parking lot shot dead by trooper to stop him. "He said 'Don't get in the car!' Or 'Freeze!' Or something, I don't know," Kline said. "And the guy says, 'Oh shit!' Runs around, gets in the car and ... Drives off."
Armed Robber Killed by Trooper Identified as Kevin T. Brunson; Wanted Fugitive in Virginia
(FREDERICK, MD) – The Baltimore criminal who stole a Lincoln and threatened to use a gun he displayed in waistband and was shot dead by a Maryland Trooper was wanted in Virginia and had just served a year in jail in 2013.
Maryland State Police report that he was fatally wounded by a state trooper yesterday after ramming a Frederick police officer responding to assist has been identified and connected with an armed robbery in Baltimore the night before.
The man is identified as Kevin T. Brunson, 45, of the 4000-block of W. Coldspring Lane, Baltimore, Md. Police used fingerprint comparison to make the positive identification. Brunson should have been in jail as he was sentenced to serve three years on a auto theft charge in Baltimore County on July 19, 2013.
Brunson was driving a Lincoln Navigator yesterday morning when troopers attempted to arrest him after the vehicle had been identified as stolen during an armed robbery in Baltimore on the evening of October 25th. He was shot by a Maryland state trooper during a confrontation after he rammed the car of a Frederick Police Department officer who was responding to assist.
Detectives from the Baltimore Police Department have confirmed Brunson was identified as the suspect involved in the armed robbery of the Lincoln, which occurred in the 3600-block of Dolfield Ave., Baltimore, shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The victim reported he confronted the man, now identified as Brunson, as he was attempting to steal his vehicle. The victim said the man threatened him with a gun that was in his waistband.
A gun was not found by investigators and crime scene technicians who processed the vehicle and scene in Frederick yesterday. A folding knife with an approximately four inch blade was recovered from the scene and is believed to have been in Brunson’s possession. Investigators are continuing to interview witnesses to determine where the knife was during the confrontation with the trooper.
Brunson’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. The autopsy revealed Brunson sustained four gunshot wounds in his torso.
The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit is continuing the investigation into the trooper involved fatal shooting. Investigators are collecting and reviewing video from businesses in the area and from a camera in one of the State Police patrol cars on the scene. Upon completion, the investigation will be presented to the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office for review.
(FREDERICK, MD) – The Maryland State Police now report that the investigation is continuing into a fatal shooting that occurred this morning in Frederick County when troopers attempted to arrest a man in a stolen vehicle who rammed a police officer arriving to assist.
Witnesses at the scene who watched the man refuse to obey the Trooper’s orders to show his hands and to stop the vehicle told NBC News 4 reporters that the trooper did the right thing and took appropriate action.
Maryland State Police say that the adult male who was shot dead has not been positively identified. Police will be attempting to verify his identity through fingerprints.
The trooper involved is identified as Trooper First Class William B. Jansen, a five-year-veteran of the Maryland State Police. TFC Jansen is assigned to the Maryland State Police Aviation Command and is stationed at the Frederick Section, located at the Frederick Municipal Airport.
The preliminary investigation indicates that sometime after 8:00 a.m. today, a Maryland state trooper from the Frederick Barrack went to a convenience store in the 1300-block of Patrick Street to make a purchase. While walking past a Lincoln Navigator parked on the lot, he noticed the Maryland tags had expired at the end of August of this year. The trooper ran a check of the registration and learned the vehicle had been reported stolen during an armed robbery in Baltimore last night. Seeing a person inside the vehicle, the trooper called for assistance and observed the SUV.
TFC Jansen heard the radio broadcast and responded from the Frederick Section, which is nearby. He took up a stationary position on the opposite end of the parking lot.
The person inside the Lincoln got out and was seen at the back of the vehicle putting on a shirt. At about 8:40 a.m., the troopers approached in their vehicles with their emergency lights activated. The Frederick Barrack trooper was in uniform and in a marked State Police car. The Aviation Command trooper was in an unmarked vehicle, but had emergency lights activated and was in a flight suit clearly marked with Maryland State Police emblems.
As the troopers approached in their vehicles, the man ran to the driver’s door and entered the Lincoln. Both troopers exited on foot and immediately identified themselves as police officers and ordered the man to show his hands and surrender. The man ignored commands, started the Lincoln and accelerated out of the parking space.
At that moment, a uniformed Frederick Police Department officer was entering the parking lot with his emergency lights activated. According to witnesses, the driver of the Lincoln drove directly at the patrol car and rammed it on the driver’s side, continuing to accelerate and driving the patrol car across the parking lot, over a curb, and onto a grass area beside the lot, pinning the officer inside.
The troopers had pursued the Lincoln on foot. Before the vehicles had stopped, witnesses say the driver of the Lincoln exited on foot. Preliminary information indicates the man had one or both hands in his pockets and continued to ignore troopers’ orders to stop and show his hands. A witness told investigators the man was seen pulling his hand out quickly and rapidly lunging toward the trooper before the trooper fired.
TFC Jansen fired his issued Glock .40 caliber pistol, striking the man in the torso. Both TFC Jansen and another State Police flight paramedic who arrived at the scene provided immediate emergency care. Frederick County emergency medical services personnel responded to assist, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
State Police Homicide Unit investigators responded and are conducting the investigation. State Police crime scene technicians processed the scene. A large folding knife was found in the man’s possession. Also found was the driver’s license of a man who Baltimore Police detectives have confirmed was the victim in a non-fatal shooting in Baltimore in July. Cash, a crack pipe, clothes and other belongings were found at the scene. No other weapons were found.
Baltimore Police Department detectives responded and verified the Lincoln Navigator was the vehicle stolen last night. It cannot be positively confirmed at this time the man driving the vehicle today was the person responsible for the theft of the vehicle last night.
The Frederick County State’s Attorney responded to the scene and was briefed by investigators. Upon completion of the investigation, it will be provided to the state’s attorney for his review.
The State Police Internal Affairs Unit also responded and is conducting a concurrent investigation. The trooper involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave, as is procedure.
From the Frederick News Post
FREDERICK, MD. (Oct. 26, 2015) A Maryland State Trooper shot and killed a man who used a stolen SUV to ram a police cruiser.
The shooting took place around 8:45 a.m. at the Sheetz gas off East Patrick Street when an on-duty trooper attempted to stop the man from leaving the station, according to MSP spokesman Greg Shipley.
Shipley said MSP believes the man deliberately rammed a responding Frederick Police officer’s car before he was fired upon by another trooper from MSP’s aviation command.
Emergency responders attempted CPR on the man in the parking lot outside the gas station before covering his body and blocking the scene with tarps.
Larry Haines, a Verizon employee, who working across the street, witnessed the shooting.
“I was outside the truck and I just happened to be looking this direction when I saw the trooper with his gun out, just backing up.” Haines said. “I heard four gunshots, and when I looked up, I immediately saw a trooper or a police officer with his gun out.”
Frederick residents Dennis Kline and Anna Smittenaar had just pulled into the Sheetz parking lot when they noticed a black man in his 40s standing behind an SUV parked next to the store.
“He was backed in and he was changing his shirt, he didn’t even have a shirt on when we first pulled in,” Smittenaar said.
As the couple made their way inside to buy drinks, Kline said a state police cruiser pulled up near the SUV. The trooper stepped out of the cruiser and pulled his gun, Kline said.
“He said ‘Don’t get in the car!’ Or ‘Freeze!’ Or something, I don’t know,” Kline said. “And the guy says, ‘Oh shit!’ Runs around, gets in the car and … Drives off.”
The SUV almost immediately crashed into another police vehicle pulling into the station parking lot from another entrance, Kline said. When the man jumped out of the SUV to try to run, a third cruiser had already come to a stop on the driver’s side. An officer next to that cruiser also had his weapon drawn, Kline said.
“Literally there were cops coming in from everywhere, I mean it was crazy; because I don’t even know where [the third officer] came from, but he was already out of his car by the time the SUV hit the cop car,” Kline said. “And as soon as [the man] got out of the SUV he told him to freeze and unloaded on him.”
Kline and Smittenaar each said they heard approximately six to eight gunshots.
- Maryland State Police Beat: suspect who rammed Frederick police cruiser in busy Sheetz parking lot shot dead by trooper to stop him. "He said 'Don't get in the car!' Or 'Freeze!' Or something, I don't know," Kline said. "And the guy says, 'Oh shit!' Runs around, gets in the car and ... Drives off."
