Baltimore's mayor promised an outside, independent review of the "friendly fire" shooting that claimed the life of a plainclothes city police officer as commanders ordered those who dress in civilian clothes to wear uniforms or jackets identifying them as law enforcement.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she is "very concerned by initial facts that indicate only police weapons were discharged" during the early Sunday melee outside the Select Lounge on North Paca Street.
In a statement, the mayor said the police investigation and the outside review of the incident, which left a police officer and an unarmed civilian dead and four people wounded, "will help us understand exactly what happened and help us learn from it and make sure that nothing like it happens again."
A spokesman for Rawlings-Blake said officials are checking with other Maryland law enforcement agencies as to their availability. The last outside review of city police was conducted in 2004, when the Howard County Police Department examined how city police handled a domestic violence complaint against then-Commissioner Kevin P. Clark.
The review of the weekend shooting will not supplant the investigation now under way by Baltimore homicide detectives or any action that city prosecutors might take, a police spokesman said. But it will serve as a check on the criminal inquiry and offer an independent critique of the Police Department's policies and practices.
Police supervisors said discussions on new rules governing plainclothes officers could include whether they should wear distinctive colors that change by the day or week, to make them quickly identifiable to fellow officers but not to the people they are trying to arrest, or use code words.
Police in New York City use what is called the "color of the day" to mark plainclothes officers, typically consisting of bandanas or headbands.
"We want to make sure that we're using plainclothes officers in the safest manner possible," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Baltimore Police Department's chief spokesman.
The requirement that plainclothes officers wear uniforms will remain in place while the department reviews the policy, Guglielmi said. Ultimately, he said, the requirement could be made permanent, modified or dropped.
The move comes as police commanders piece together the shooting using surveillance video from at least one of Baltimore's pole cameras, evidence found at the scene, and interviews with witnesses and participants during what has been described as a large and chaotic disturbance.
A department spokesman said the four veteran officers who opened fire, mistaking fellow Officer William H. Torbit Jr., 33, for a gunman, have not consented to interviews with homicide detectives. Officers involved in shootings cannot be compelled to give statements until after the criminal investigation has concluded.
Two of the officers met with an attorney from the Fraternal Order of Police union on Wednesday and the other two are expected to meet later this week. The union president, Robert F. Cherry, said their statements will be turned over to investigators.
"All four officers are cooperating," Cherry said.
The department has identified the officers as Harry Dodge, 37, an 11-year veteran of the department; Harry Pawley, 40, a 17-year veteran; Toyia Williams, 36, a 13-year veteran; and Latora Craig, 30, a nine-year veteran.
Police have said that Torbit, who was on duty, had responded to an officer-in-trouble call and was trying to break up a fight when he was attacked and shoved to the ground. He pulled out his weapon and shot at one of his assailants.
Almost simultaneously, four uniformed officers — all of whom work in Torbit's district and knew him, police say, even if they did not immediately recognize him — opened fire. A total of 41 bullets was fired by the five officers. Sean Gamble, the 22-year-old civilian, was mortally wounded — by Torbit's initial volley of at least eight shots, police believe.
Guglielmi said a surveillance video shows Torbit being violently attacked. He said the main instigator cannot be clearly identified as Gamble, though friends of Gamble who were present have confirmed that he got into an altercation with Torbit.
Detectives are trying to determine whether Torbit, an eight-year veteran of the force, was justified in opening fire on his attackers, and whether the other officers were justified in shooting at him in the middle of a large and volatile crowd. They also are examining dispatch records to see if anyone knew a plainclothes officer was responding to the call and if so, whether that information was relayed to officers on the street.
The shooting has stunned the 3,000-member department, whose members call this one of the most tragic events in memory.
