A man is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot by police in a gunfire exchange Saturday night. A police officer was shot but uninjured because the bullet ricocheted off the officer’s magazine belt, police said.
The exchange occurred around 8 p.m. at the intersection of Chillum and Queens Chapel Roads in West Hyattsville. Police were responding to several calls reporting a man “acting erratic” in the area and throwing things at cars and banging on store windows.
When police arrived the man opened fire and several officers returned fire, police said. The suspect was taken to a nearby hospital.
