An off-duty Baltimore police officer was walking home Saturday morning when he became the victim of an attack ? forcing him to shoot two suspects to save his own life, police said.
Four suspects approached the officer and attempted to rob him at about 3:40 a.m. at the intersection of Battery Avenue and Gittings Street in the Riverside neighborhood of South Baltimore, said Officer Troy Harris, an agency spokesman.
One of the robbers placed a knife at the officer?s neck, but the officer freed himself from the man?s hold. Then the officer pulled his gun from his holster, Harris said.
“The officer fired several shots at the suspect as the suspect came toward the officer with his knife,” Harris said.
The man with the knife was shot, and the three other robbers ran from the scene, police said.
One of the men fleeing the scene jumped into a nearby van and attempted to run over the officer, Harris said.
The officer then fired a shot striking the suspect in the head, according to police.
Police refused to release the names of the officer and the suspects.
Both suspects were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where the man who was shot while holding the knife is listed in critical condition, Harris said.
The man driving the van was grazed in the head by the bullet and is listed in good condition, Harris said.
The officer, who was not injured, has been placed on administrative leave, police said.
It is standard procedure for the Baltimore City Police Department to place officers on administrative leave after a police-involved shooting.
