A Baltimore police officer was shot in the leg – and a suspect killed – during a wild shoot-out in East Baltimore Thursday night.
Around 10:30 p.m. patrol officers attempted to stop a vehicle in the area of Bouldin Street, when the driver “bailed out and ran,” said Baltimore police spokesman Sterling Clifford.
A few blocks away, the driver encountered two SWAT officers who were working nearby and tried to hide under a parked vehicle, police said.
When the SWAT team officers approached the vehicle, the suspect, Ron Jones, 21, opened fire striking one of the officers, Krzysztof Gesla, in the leg.
The suspect was killed when the officers returned fire, striking him with multiple bullets, Clifford said.
Gesla is recovering at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center after having surgery on his leg.
Jones, who lived on North Bellmore Avenue, has been arrested 18 times before this incident and was currently on parole, Clifford said “Nobody wants to use their weapons,” he said. “But these officers did exactly what they had to do. If you carry a gun, the police are going to come after you. If you choose to fire at police, you¹ve left them with only one choice.”
City police have shot 31 people this year, compared with 15 in all of 2006.
