Two 16-year-old boys have been arrested and charged as adults with attempted murder in the Thursday night shooting of an off-duty police officer in front of his Northwest Baltimore home, according to the city's police commissioner.
Craig Tillett and Kevon Wilson are also charged with robbery and other offenses in the attack on Detective Aaron Harris, a 16-year veteran of the police force, authorities said.
Two assailants tried to rob Harris as he approached his porch about 10 p.m. in the 6000 block of Highgate Drive, police said. Harris, 39, was shot three times in the abdomen and lower left leg, and he returned fire at his attackers, according to police.
Tillett later walked into Sinai Hospital with a bullet wound to the leg, police said.
Tillett initially told detectives that he had been struck by gunfire at Spaulding and Park Heights avenues, about a half-mile from where Harris was attacked. Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said an officer went to Park Heights Avenue but found no evidence of a shooting, and no one had called 911 to report gunfire in that area.
After an interview with investigators, police said, Tillett acknowledged being at Harris' home and identified Wilson, who was arrested Friday in the 4800 block of Buford Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, joined by Mayor Sheila Dixon at a Friday afternoon news conference, called the incident a random attack. It was the second botched attempt at robbing an off-duty city officer this month. On Sept. 14, an officer shot and critically wounded a man who had held him at gunpoint in his Northeast Baltimore home, according to police. The officer chased the man for two blocks before opening fire, police said.
"These cops, whether they live here or in another neighborhood, they stand ready," Bealefeld said. "These guys demonstrate that they're going to fight back. And Harris is a brave man, and he fought back."
Harris was in serious condition at Sinai after surgery on his abdomen. He is assigned to the Warrant Apprehension Task Force, which tracks down suspects wanted for violent crimes and gun offenses.
At the news conference, Dixon focused her comments on the number of illegal guns in the city and lobbied for tougher gun laws.
"To have someone walking in their home after leaving his mother and visiting a family member - to have to come against this, two juveniles, 16 years old, with an illegal gun," Dixon said. "These are consequences they're going to have to face."
The last off-duty officer shot to death during an attempted robbery was Detective Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., who was killed outside his girlfriend's home in Northwest Baltimore in January 2007. A 23-year-old Baltimore man, Brandon Grimes, was convicted of first-degree murder in that case and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
