Prince George’s County Police had a “person of interest” in custody on Sunday in connection with the ambush slaying of a state trooper outside an Applebee’s restaurant last week but they were still asking the public for tips and offering a beefed-up reward of $75,000 as they try to solve the case.
Police ask anyone with information about the June 11 fatal shooting of Maryland State Trooper Wesley W. Brown to call the Greater Washington Area Crime Solvers: 866-411-TIPS (8477). Tipsters may remain anonymous and may be eligible for up to $75,000 in rewards.
Police said Sunday they had found the “person of interest” they had been looking for following the early Friday shooting. He was being held Sunday on unrelated charges, Prince George’s Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said, but the man had not been charged as of Sunday afternoon in connection with the slaying of Maryland State Trooper Wesley W. Brown.
“He’s still a person of interest,” Copeland told The Washington Examiner.
The man, whose name was not released, was escorted out of the Applebee’s restaurant in Forestville earlier the same evening that Maryland State Trooper Wesley W. Brown was gunned down on his off-duty security job.
Authorities put out pictures of the man Friday and picked him up on Saturday, Copeland said. The corporal declined to detail what charges he was being detained for, saying only they were unrelated to the shooting. But, Copeland said, investigators need more information to find out what happened.
Over the weekend, they increased the reward for information about the incident to $75,000, Copeland said, with contributions of $25,000 each coming from the Prince George’s County Crime Solvers Fund, the governor’s office and Applebee’s restaurant.
The 24-year-old trooper, who had been with the force for three years, was recently engaged. He also mentored young men. Hundreds turned out for a vigil in his honor.
Brown’s public viewing is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Abyssinia Baptist Church in Capitol Heights; his funeral take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Jericho City of Praise in Landover.
