A Montgomery County police officer fatally shot himself overnight after he was pulled over on suspicion of speeding and drunken driving in Queen Anne, authorities said.
Maryland State Police said 30-year-old Jed Bylsma was stopped by a trooper at about 1:30 a.m. Monday on Route 50 near Route 404 in Talbot County after the trooper’s radar detected a high speed. Bylsma, who identified himself as an officer with Montgomery County police, appeared to have been driving under the influence, state police said.
When the trooper returned to his patrol car to call for a backup unit, Bylsma fled on Route 50 in his vehicle. State police troopers deployed stop sticks, which deflated Bylsma’s tires, and his vehicle stopped on Route 50 near Airport Road, about nine miles from where he had been pulled over.
Troopers ordered Bylsma to exit his vehicle and approached the car when he did not. The troopers found Bylsma unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his head. A handgun was found in the vehicle near Bylsma’s hand.
Bylsma was pronounced dead at the scene.
He had been a patrol officer with the Montgomery police since February 2003, said Officer Rebecca Innocenti, a county police spokeswoman. Innocenti said Bylsma had been on administrative leave for the past year. She would not disclose why he had been on leave, saying it was a personnel issue.
The handgun found in the car was not Bylsma’s police service weapon, Innocenti said.
