Nearly 20 members of Howard County police?s SWAT team took aim at a Columbia man wanted for burglary outside his apartment in the dark of night.
They saw Delcarlos Johnnie Jacobs and fired 29 rounds at him.
Jacobs, 22, allegedly fled the scene unharmed and was later apprehended by patrol officers.
Now, a Howard County jury must decide whether Jacobs, charged with attempting to murder the officers, provoked the shooting.
“Twenty-nine rounds were fired by Howard County police,” Jacobs? attorney, Louis Willemin, told a jury Monday in Howard County Circuit Court. “Fortunately, they didn?t hit anyone.”
Police allege that Jacobs provoked the shooting at 11:30 p.m. Feb. 1. by raising a rifle he was holding at the officers and firing it ? a claim Jacobs has repeatedly denied.
In their charging documents, five officers said they either saw a flash from the rifle or heard Jacobs fire at them.
But Willemin said the officers? story is unbelievable, because no bullet or shell from Jacobs? gun was ever found.
He said the officers were hyped up on adrenaline and have five different, conflicting accounts of the incident, including several officers who say never saw Jacobs raise a rifle or fire it.
“This is a paramilitary operation,” Willemin said of the officers. “I suggest to you that the adrenaline is building.”
But Howard County Assistant State?s Attorney James Dietrich said Jacobs should be convicted of attempted murder, because he did not drop his rifle after Officer Jeffrey Giroux ordered him to do so.
Instead, Jacobs fired a single bullet at the police, causing them to return fire, Dietrich told the jury.
“He sent a bullet screaming at these officers,” Dietrich said, adding that the bullet is probably still lodged in a hill in Columbia.
Jacobs is charged with attempted first-degree murder against Giroux, who lead the SWAT team that night, and with first-degree assault against 14 officers. His trial is expected to continue today.
