Police say officer was carried on hood before firing three rounds
BALTIMORE, MD — What began with an expired registration and a parking citation erupted into an officer-involved shooting Saturday night after Baltimore Police say a driver accelerated into an officer, carried him on the hood and crashed into a patrol vehicle before the officer fired three rounds.
The driver, identified by police as Tyrik L. Braxton, 29, of Columbia, was transported to an area hospital and remained in critical condition when Baltimore Police released details of the incident Tuesday.
Officer Samuel Thomas, a 20-year Baltimore Police veteran, suffered neck and back injuries and was hospitalized before being released.
The encounter began at approximately 9:32 p.m. in the 200 block of N. Eutaw Street.
Police said Thomas was conducting parking enforcement when he found a vehicle with expired registration. A license plate check showed the registration was suspended.
Thomas issued a citation, requested a tow truck and began removing the vehicle’s license plate, according to police.
During that process, the registered owner and another person arrived.
Police said the owner repeatedly denied that the vehicle belonged to him. Thomas later told him that records showed he was the registered owner and explained that the vehicle would be towed.
The officer also told him he could retrieve belongings from inside.
According to the police account, the owner denied having the keys but then quickly entered the vehicle and started it.
Thomas was positioned near the front of the driver’s side door and asked another officer who had arrived to position a patrol vehicle in front of the car.
Police allege the driver then accelerated forward, striking Thomas and knocking him onto the hood.
The vehicle briefly stopped before reversing and accelerating again with Thomas still on the hood, according to the department.
Police said the vehicle continued forward and struck the responding patrol vehicle.
Thomas then fired three rounds into the vehicle, according to BPD.
Police did not specify how many times Braxton was struck.
Thomas was placed on routine administrative leave following the shooting.
The Baltimore Police Special Investigations Response Team is investigating the use of force. The department also activated its Public Release of Critical Incident Recordings Policy, which governs the release of recordings associated with critical incidents.
The police department’s account represents its preliminary description of the incident, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Key Points
- Baltimore Police say a parking enforcement encounter Saturday escalated after a driver struck Officer Samuel Thomas and carried him on the hood of a vehicle.
- Police identified the driver as Tyrik L. Braxton, 29, of Columbia, who was hospitalized in critical condition after Thomas fired three rounds into the vehicle.
- Thomas, a 20-year BPD veteran, suffered neck and back injuries and was released from the hospital. The shooting is under investigation.
