A Howard police officer wounded two teenage boys Monday when he accidentally shot them during an investigation of suspected drug activity in Jessup, police said.
Dwayne Usery, 14, of Jessup, was shot in the abdomen and flown to the Johns Hopkins Children?s Center where he was in fair condition Tuesday, police said. Garcia Wilson, 15, also of Jessup, was shot in the arm, police said. Wilson was treated and released Monday night from Howard County General Hospital, police said. Both teens are freshmen at Hammond High School in Columbia.
One bullet managed to strike both teens, said Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for the Howard police.
“My son is very emotional and upset right now,” said Garcia?s father, Robert Wilson, who was preparing to change the dressing on his son?s wound Tuesday. “I haven?t had a chance to talk with him about what happened yet.”
Police said the officers were conducting surveillance for suspected drug activity and stopped the teens for questioning around 5:15 p.m. Monday in the 8300 block of Pleasant Chase Road in Jessup.
As the officers got out of their vehicle, one officer?s weapon discharged, police said. There was no altercation between the teens and officers before the incident, Llewellyn said.
“Undercover narcotics detectives know from experience that the drug trade often involves weapons,” Llewellyn said. “They have to assess the potential risk each time they approach a situation, and that may mean unholstering a weapon for their personal safety.”
Llewellyn said neither teenager was armed, but illegal drugs were recovered at the scene. It is not clear whom the drugs belonged to, and police could not confirm what drugs were found.
“The only thing they found on my son was a cell phone,” Wilson said.
Police refused to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting because he was working undercover. Llewellyn said the officer is a seven-year veteran who has served four years with the Howard department.
Internal Affairs is investigating the officer?s actions, and no charges have been filed against the teens at this time, Llewellyn said.
As students filed off the school bus and shuffled home in the quiet Pleasant Chase neighborhood Tuesday, Autumn Schrecengos, 14, a freshman at Hammond, said she is close friends with the two students.
“I don?t know what I would have done if they weren?t OK,” Autumn said. “They are like brothers to me.”
Usery was riding his dirt bike just before the shooting occurred, said James Edwards, 16, a senior at Hammond.
“I was hanging out with him, and his bike broke down and Garcia came to help him push it home,” Edwards said Tuesday. He said Garcia was not involved with drugs.
Neighbors said the street was blocked off for more than an hour Monday evening as police cars lined the block and a helicopter landed at the community?s recreation center.
