Credit: Washington Post – KATIE METTLER
August, 25, 2020
Two men who authorities say shot at Prince George’s County police on Sunday night in a Landover neighborhood are in police custody and accused of attempted murder and assault as investigators continue to piece together what precipitated an exchange of gunfire that left bullet holes in homes, blood in the street and three officers wounded.
Steven Maurice Warren, 27, has been formally charged and is in custody at the county jail, officials said at a news conference Monday. The second man, Andre Larnell Smith, 45, was injured while fleeing the scene and is being treated at a hospital. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.
Two of the injured officers had been released from the hospital as of Monday evening, interim police chief Hector Velez said during the news conference. The third officer underwent successful surgery and remained hospitalized, Velez said.
“It is really just nothing but the grace of God that allowed these three officers to live through this incident, as well as the two that have been charged,” County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said during the news conference.
Capitol View Mutual Homes, the co-op of 120 homes where the gunbattle broke out after officers responded to a call about a home invasion, still showed signs Monday of the chaotic few minutes that overtook the usually quiet, tree-shaded neighborhood and left residents rattled. Shattered glass littered the road beside patches of dried blood, and residents wandered outside to assess the damage to their homes.
“I cannot believe this,” site manager Tammy Nimmons said as she inspected a window pierced by a bullet.
In the three years she has overseen the co-op, Nimmons said there has never been a shooting. She was in shock, she said, when she learned what played out Sunday night — and she thinks the men who fired at police are not members of her community.
“When I tell you everyone gets along, everyone gets along,” Nimmons said.
Chaos erupted just after 6:30 p.m. Sunday, when a woman in the neighborhood called 911 to report a home invasion, according to charging documents. The first officer on the scene saw a vehicle parked on the road and two men walking toward it, so he got out of his car and “engaged those individuals in conversation,” Velez said during the news conference.
Almost immediately, the men started shooting at the officer, who ducked down behind the door of his cruiser, dashcam video shows. He was hit in the lower right leg, right arm and chest, which was protected by a bullet-resistant vest.
The men got into the vehicle they had been approaching, authorities said, and the officer notified dispatch from his cruiser that he had been shot and requested backup.
The men fled on Capital View Terrace but came to a dead end and were forced to turn around, authorities said. They drove back past the injured officer, who by then was flanked by backup officers trying to help. The men in the vehicle fired at the officers again, authorities said, and the officers shot back. Two more officers were struck.
As the men drove off, they crashed their vehicle into a tree just a few houses away and the officers were able to detain them, authorities said.
The officers were identified by their last names in charging documents. The police department did not release their full identities but said the group of wounded officers includes a 15-year veteran, an officer with five years of service and one who joined the department four years ago.
Both Warren and Smith were injured in the crash, but neither was shot, authorities said. Police said four officers fired their weapons and have been placed on routine administrative leave as the incident is investigated.
Police said one gun was found in the car that Warren was driving and a second gun was found near the vehicle.
It was not clear whether Warren, of D.C., and Smith have attorneys in the case.
Relatives of Smith, who has a Pennsylvania address but appears to have ties to the D.C. area, could not be reached immediately on Monday.
A woman who answered the phone at an address in Northwest Washington linked to Warren declined to comment. The woman, who identified herself as Warren’s mother but declined to provide her name, said she learned of the arrest from a television newscast. “Right now, I’m not in a position to talk,” the woman said. “I’m trying to process all this.”
William Morton, 29, was watching basketball with his children when he heard the gunshots outside. “It sounded like war,” Morton said.
He peeked out his window and saw one officer fall to the ground and other officers swarm to help.
Nimmons said that she has spent the past few years trying to clean up her neighborhood and instill a sense of community. Her efforts included asking Prince George’s police to pass through the co-op. The officers have become friendly faces, she and other neighbors said, because they get out of their patrol cars and interact with residents — which made people all the more concerned when they learned that three officers had been shot.
“We are family,” she said.
Washington Post reporter Peter Hermann contributed to this article.