A Sykesville-area man was shot and severely wounded outside his home yesterday evening by local police officers who opened fire as he allegedly moved toward them brandishing a shotgun and a rifle, authorities said.
Kevin Carle Craig, 43, of the 4100 block of Home Dale Road was taken by a state MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he was in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said last night.
Craig appeared to be shot once in the neck. The injury did not appear life-threatening, said Lt. Terry Katz, state police commander at Westminster barracks.
According to Katz, Craig's wife called state police from Carroll County General Hospital about 4:45 p.m. and said her husband was at home, armed, extremely agitated and possibly suicidal.
It was unclear why the woman was at the hospital, but Katz said she was not injured and no one else, including two children, was in the home.
Four state troopers and the county sheriff's deputy went to the house, on a quiet, two-block-long road east of Route 97 near Morgan Run Natural Environmental Area, while a duty sergeant at the barracks called the man, Katz said.
"He kept hanging up and the duty sergeant kept calling back, trying to establish some meaningful dialogue," Katz said. "At that point, he was inside and the officers had surrounded the house, and then he came outside."
Katz said he did not know what verbal exchanges occurred, but believed the man went in and came out of the house several times.
Before the shooting occurred, the troopers and deputy tried to back off, but the man kept coming toward them and failed to heed warnings they might have given, Katz said. It was unclear how many shots were fired, he said.
"He was clearly the aggressor and they had no avenue to escape," Katz said. "That's when three - two troopers and the deputy - fired at him."
Katz identified the shooters as Cpl. A. Andrew Eways, Cpl. James DeWees, and Sheriff's Deputy Ed Engel.
All are assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division at the Westminster barracks.
As is state police routine, officers involved in a shooting are required to go on administrative leave for at least 48 hours, Katz said.
If cleared of criminal and departmental wrongdoing, they could return to duty, Katz said.
Two others, Cpl. Doug Reitz and Trooper Frank Fornoff, did not fire their weapons, Katz said.
Katz said a special unit from state police headquarters had been called to conduct the criminal portion of the investigation and an internal affairs unit was summoned to look at whether the troopers and deputy involved followed policy and procedure in firing their weapons.
