A city police officer shot a robbery suspect who pointed a gun at him in East Baltimore Tuesday night, police said.
Officers on foot patrol just after 7 p.m. near the Burger King at 2033 Eastern Avenue chased the man when they saw him running while holding his waistband, said Officer Nicole Monroe, a city police spokeswoman
When Officer Modesto Olivo Jr. struggled with the suspect while trying to subdue him, the man pulled a handgun and aimed it at Olivo, a seven-year veteran, police said.
“The suspect tried to shoot the officer, but the officer was able to push his arm away, pull out his own weapon and shoot the suspect,” Monroe said.
The suspect, whom police did not identify, was shot inthe stomach and taken to a city hospital. Monroe did not know his condition.
After the shooting, police received a call alerting them that the Burger King had been robbed.
“None of these officers even knew that the Burger King had been robbed,” Monroe said. “These were just officers doing their job, doing what they’ve been sent out there to do: target armed persons and violent offenders.”
Baltimore police have shot 32 people this year, killing 12. In 2006, police reported 15 shootings that involved officers, and five of them were fatal.
