Baltimore police Detective Sean Suiter was fatally shot last week just a day before his scheduled testimony in a corruption case affecting nine other officers.
Suiter was shot once by his own gun during a struggle with an unknown man who was acting suspiciously in a vacant lot, police say.
The detective’s partner was filmed by a surveillance camera taking cover during the Nov. 15 struggle.
Suiter, 43, was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the city’s Gun Trace Task Force. Authorities say he was not a target of the probe.
Eight Baltimore police officers on the task force were indicted this year for allegedly extorting suspects, committing overtime fraud and conspiring with drug dealers, among other crimes.
Four of the indicted officers have pleaded guilty. Four others are scheduled to stand trial in January. A Philadelphia officer also has been indicted for allegedly helping distribute stolen drugs.
Suiter worked with at least three of the indicted officers, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis confirmed Wednesday he was scheduled to testify the day after his death, but said his decision to approach the suspect was “spontaneous and unplanned.”
“While I understand the wild possibilities that go through people’s minds when we all want answers, I just am determined to keep following the evidence,” Davis said.
Although Baltimore records hundreds of murders a year — with 318 in 2016 — the Sun reports that Suiter was the first on-duty officer killed by a suspect in 10 years. Police are offering a $215,000 reward in the case.
