Local
Officer shoots man holding knife to woman’s throat, police say
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
December 23, 2008
 |
One of the bullets went through the man and struck the woman. Both were hospitalized and expected to be released late Monday.
Early Monday morning, shortly after midnight, police got a call from a resident that a woman was crying inside an apartment on the 700 block of Hudson Avenue.
An officer responded to the scene and heard a commotion coming from inside the apartment, Takoma Park police said. She demanded to be let in but was refused entry, police said.
She called for backup and either kicked or used her shoulder to break down the door, police said. She was confronted by a woman covered in blood and a male suspect holding a knife to her throat, police said.
The woman had multiple cuts to her head and her chest, police said. There were two children in the apartment.
The officer demanded that the man drop the knife. He refused and she shot him twice, police said.
One of the bullets also struck the woman, in the arm. Both were taken by helicopter to the Washington Hospital Center, where they were expected to be released late Monday.
Police charged Carlos Ivan Ovalle, 33, of Takoma Park, with attempted murder, assault, burglary, violation of protective order, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment, police said.
Police said there was a history of domestic violence between the man and woman and that she had obtained a restraining order against him.
Takoma Park police believe that the suspect forced his way into the apartment when the woman was not home, and attacked her when she arrived.
The officer who fired on the suspect was placed on routine administrative leave with pay. Police say that the investigations into both the stabbing and the police shooting are ongoing. Police would not release the name or any information about the officer involved.
