Corporal Garner, who as a canine officer was shot in December 2006 during a search for an armed robbery suspect, credits Lieutenant Howe with saving his life the day he was hurt. At one point, the lieutenant ordered the canine officers tracking the suspect to wait for the SWAT team to join them.
Later, Corporal Garner was shot and "I was unable to return fire," he said. "It was the SWAT guy next to me who was able to return fire and save my life."
David Rose, the second vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, was at Johns Hopkins on Monday afternoon with four dozen tactical and canine officers and their family members when doctors announced that the lieutenant had died.
"You're in there with some of the toughest, well-trained guys in the agency and there's not a dry eye in the place," he said.
Because Lieutenant Howe's death occurred so soon after his work on the Randallstown case, it is considered in the line of duty, Chief Johnson said.
As such, Lieutenant Howe will be buried with full departmental honors. He is the eighth Baltimore County officer to die in the line of duty in the department's history.
A viewing is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Ruck Funeral Home, 1050 York Road, Towson. His funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church, 2930 Hanover Pike, Manchester. Interment will follow at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.
He is survived by his wife, Debra, and stepson, Jason Simons, who is a detective in the Towson precinct.
jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com
