From Maryland State Police:
Troopers responding to a call for an intruder at a Cecil County home early this morning fatally wounded a woman inside the home after she accused them of not being real police officers and pointed what appeared to be a real handgun at them.
The woman is identified as Christine A. Lucas, 45, of the 600-block of Lombard Road, Rising Sun, Md. Despite administration of emergency care by a trooper paramedic and the response of medics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The troopers who fired their weapons are identified as Trooper First Class Justin Rann, a four-year veteran assigned to the North East Barrack and Trooper First Class Timothy Graham, a four-year veteran assigned to the Aviation Command. TFC Graham was working road patrol at the North East Barrack during midnight shift because the helicopter section he is assigned to was closed due to poor weather.
The preliminary investigation indicates shortly before 2:00 a.m. today, a 911 call was received at the Cecil County Emergency Operations Center and transferred to the North East Barrack. The female caller said repeatedly that an intruder was in her home. She also said her phone was about to shut off and the call was soon disconnected. Barrack personnel attempted to call the number back, but there was no answer.
Troopers, Cecil County Sheriff’s Office deputies and an officer from the Rising Sun Police Department responded to the two-story, single family home. Attempts were made to contact anyone in the home from outside the residence, but there was no response. A short time later, a woman was heard screaming inside. Troopers reported this to the barrack and then forced their way into an attached garage and entered the home. The troopers were in uniform and were repeatedly announcing they were police officers.
There were no lights on in the house. It was later learned the electricity in the home had been shut off months ago. Troopers used flashlights to light their way through the first floor to the living room, all the while calling out they were police officers.
In the living room, two troopers and a police officer from the Rising Sun Police Department found a woman, later identified as Ms. Lucas, who was seated in a chair. Troopers gave her verbal commands, but she did not respond. She then put her hands in her lap and picked up what appeared to troopers to be a handgun. She told the troopers she did not believe they were the ‘real police.’
The troopers retreated from the immediate area and repeatedly told the woman to drop the gun. They continued to assure her they were police officers there to help. The woman ignored their commands and then raised the gun, pointing it toward the troopers who were just outside the threshold of the room.
In fear for their lives, both troopers fired their department-issued .40 caliber Glock 22 pistols, striking Ms. Lucas. TFC Graham is a flight paramedic and provided immediate emergency care. Medics from Rising Sun also responded to the scene.
The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit was called and responded to conduct the investigation. Investigators learned Ms. Lucas’ 15-year-old son was upstairs when the shooting occurred. He was unharmed and told investigators he had been sleeping in the living room earlier, when his mother had awakened him. She handed him a duffel bag with his clothes inside and told him she loved him and to go upstairs and stay. She also told him where to find a folder containing his birth certificate and her personal information. He did not come downstairs when police arrived.
Investigators also learned Ms. Lucas had not taken prescribed medications for the past couple of weeks. Her husband reportedly stayed at the home periodically, but had left yesterday and was not there. Investigators have information indicating the family was having financial difficulty. The electricity in the home had been turned off, possibly as long as four months ago.
A search warrant was obtained for the home. State Police crime scene technicians have processed the scene. The gun being held by Ms. Lucas was determined to be an air-soft pistol that was the size of a real handgun. The gun had been painted black, making it appear more realistic. Investigators also found what appears to be a suicide note from Ms. Lucas, giving an apparent explanation for her actions.
Two other troopers, three county sheriff’s deputies and the Rising Sun police officer were also at the scene. Those officers were not involved in the shooting. Both troopers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, which is procedure.
The State Police Homicide Unit investigation is continuing. Upon completion, it will be provided to the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office for review. The state’s attorney’s office was contacted this morning by investigators and briefed on the investigation. The State Police Internal Affairs Unit will also be conducting an investigation, as it does in any police-involved shooting.
Crazy chicks are so hot. Giggity.
Dead right.
A 15 year old boy lost his mom and probably was witness to most of what went down. And this is where your mind goes?
Maybe you should just stick to Reddit or 4Chan or where ever the incels like you hang out.
What is an incel? Did you mean imbecile?
No mistake. Incels are people who are involuntarily celibate.
Though imbecile fits as well.
Oh, I see. Why don’t they just take care of themselves?
Short version – Incels are a movement of young men who can’t get laid and are angry because Mtv and Maxim taught them they deserve hot women.
How many men are in your movement?
I apologize for getting off topic. The real issue is the young man who lost his mother and may have been witness to her death.
I suggest if you have further questions about incels you try google or some other search engine.
I disagree. The real issue here is a woman who called for police assistance using a false allegation of home invasion and then in a purposeful act led the police to believe she had a real gun and was just crazy enough to shoot them. All of this resulted in the police fatally shooting her, a result she was seeking, witness the suicide note left by the woman.
The only one making the 15 year old son an issue is you.
In all seriousness, I do understand the officers action/reactions, but why do they shoot to kill? I honestly don’t understand why they don’t just shoot someone in the leg or arm to make them go down. (not written with disrespect in mind at all) I know each case is different, but I wish this and so many other senerios could have turned out differently.
In training, they are taught to aim for center mass. So as reactions go, they shoot you where they are trained to shoot you. Now, in a instance such as this, the officers had no way of knowing whether or not the gun was real or a toy. If someone is pointing a gun at you, that puts your life in danger and its either you or them, you don’t shoot to wound in a situation where there is the possibility that wounding a person does not impede that person from taking your life. She brandished a toy gun that looked realistic and left a suicide note. We ALL know what that means, suicide by cop and she got what she wanted. In a case such as this, I actually feel sorry for the cops that shot her, as they reacted accordingly to the threat, yet I’m sure they probably feel bad because of the situation. In short, if you want to die, just call the cops and point a realistic toy gun at them when they arrive. The end results will be the same every time…..
If you point a firearm at a law enforcement officer, YOU WILL BE SHOT.
If you are dumb enough to point a weapon then you deserve to be shot.
Law enforcement officers are not in position to determine if your weapon is real or not.
Law enforcement officers are not in a position to determine if you intend to fire on them or not.
If you think that law enforcement officers are going to talk you down or shoot a weapon out of your hand, you have watched too many movies.
Law enforcement officers will be cleared of these shootings every time.
This is what happens when Glorified Meter maids get involved.
Shooting isn’t as easy as hollywood makes it seem. They fired handguns not scoped rifles, not exactly easy to shoot someone in the arm or leg.
You want to know why police don’t try to shoot suspects in the arm or leg (or head usually?)
Take a baseball bat, hang it from a string and try to hit it from 7 yards away. That’s pretty close range and in a static environment and I’d be willing to bet that most people would miss, or graze it at best. Now give that bat a gentle push so it swing slightly side to side and try to hit it. Even fewer people can hit that. Now, get it swinging in a circle and try to hit it. The vast majority of people will miss that and in this example you’re only standing 5 yards away, in a static environment, and have plenty of time to aim your shot. In real life you’re moving, your target is moving, your heart is racing, your palms are sweaty, and you’re afraid for your life. Marksmanship deteriorates significant;y under those circumstances.
Police (and military) are trained to aim center mass which usually means the torso area. Lots of vital organs there and you put a few holes through some vital organs the suspect will probably die. Sometimes even an area as big as a torso gets missed and a leg or arm gets hit instead, but that’s why we aim for center mass. It’s a higher chance for a hit.
And the police don’t shoot to kill (except snipers who likely are going to take a headshot if they have to fire.) They shoot to stop the threat. Sometimes the suspect dies. Sometimes the suspects takes one or two rounds and drops their weapon, falls to the ground, etc and the threat is over. The officer doesn’t then go up and put a round in the suspect’s head to finish the job (not unless he wants to spend the rest of his life behind bars on a 1st degree murder conviction.)
I understand what you’re saying, Jan. Its a sad situation all the way around. The Cops were put into a position where they had no choice. The only thing, to my way of thinking, that could make this situation better would have been to prevent it: I read somewhere that the young woman had been off of her medication for a month.
I’m all for hard work, making your own way, paying your dues… however you want to phrase it. But our social programs were put into place to help those who were in dire circumstances… No meds… No power to the house…. I don’t know what type of help she sought… or got….. But, it sounds like she could have used some support.
The real victim in all of this is her son…. the fifteen year old young man who was upstairs….
I agree completely. A seated woman in a dark house with a hidden weapon would make me uneasy too. The officers were apparently in danger, but why didn’t they shoot the gun from her hand?
How could their police training enable them to tell the difference between this situation and another similar situation where the gun was real?
Shoot the gun from her hand. I would guess that you’ve never shot a pistol.
I’m not a law enforcement officer. I only shoot a gun at uninvited people coming thru a door or window. I’m not trying to disarm them. I’m trying to stop them from killing me.
Amber, I think you need to read or reread the law on what you’re implying. You can’t shoot them unless they are in your house and there is no way to retreat. If you shoot someone who is coming through your door or window, you may go to jail. If you shoot someone who broke in your home, yet you could’ve walked out the back door, you may go to jail. Have you read the law?
We only shoot guns out of people’s hands as we dive over a couch or table air while shooting 2 guns at the same time.
Are you really that clueless?
That’s right…”shoot to wound”.
Sure, makes a ton of sense. Wound the perp so they can get off more shots at you since you didn’t remove the threat.
What also makes sense, is that if you shoot to wound…the subject can then turn around and SUE the Police Officer who shot for “damage”.
Love it.
That deranged Muslim in Philadelphia shot the cop three times in the arm yet the cop shot back and wounded him. Shooting to wound in a life-and-death situation is not an option. And people only shoot the gun out of an opponent’s hand in the movies.
Police are trained to shoot to eliminate the threat to themselves or others, period. Pointing a gun real or toy if unknown is the threat. Obvious she threatened them by pointing what they reasonably believed was a real handgun. Period.
Another sad case of “Suicide by cop” whereby a suicidal individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner, with the goal being to provoke a lethal response from a law enforcement officer.
The Troopers should have used the force amd performed a jedi mind trick like Ben Kenobi did on those Storm Troopers.
You know, “you will put the black painted toy down and get on floor so we can handcuff you”
#Idiots
There’s no duty to retreat in your own home. Soul crusher will tell me why I failed high school because I can’t read but running room to room, and being able to leave your home out a window, the back door, the chimney, et al is not in the law.
The duty to retreat is only in public.
There is a lot of case law on this subject in this state.
I’m not sure about that. I am under the impression you can only use deadly force if you are attacked in your home or you have no method of flight. I mean, if the guy is breaking in, grabs your purse or TV and tries to flee, then I don’t think you have the right to shoot them. That’s how it was explained to me 3 days ago by a former military member who has an FFL license……
The person would have to articulate a reasonable fear for their life and the evidence presented as such.
You are at E, F, G. I’m at, A,B,C.
Someone kicks open your door, if you have reasonable fear on your life you should stop the threat. It matters not what weapon you use, as long as once the threat is gone, you stop.
Plenty of instances of “victims” being arrested because they went back and did a number on the suspect after they were down. Obviously training is crucial as there are lots of scenarios of a bad guy kicking down your door and what not to do. Obviously professional instruction and legal counsel plays a critical role.
In short, you don’t “run away” inside your home if your life is threatened.
Maryland is clear on duty to retreat. This applies outside of the home only. MD law does not force you to retreat in your own home to avoid danger.
However if you plan on shooting an intruder in self defense you better be crystal clear on the following:
You the shooter must have reasonable grounds to believe himself in apparent imminent or immediate danger of death or serious bodily harm for his assailant or potential assailant.
You the shooter must have in fact believed himself in this danger
You the shooter must not have been the aggressor or provoked the conflict.
The force used must not have been unreasonable and excessive
In Crawford v. State, 231 Md, 354, 190 A.2d 538, one may use deadly force against an attacker if the deadly force is necessary to prevent the attacker from committing a felony that involves use of force, violence, or surprise such as murder, robbery, burglary, rape, or arson.
I would be lead to believe that an armed intruder could be shot If they were in the act of breaking into you home while you were armed inside and they were outside trying to break down your door or climbing through a broken window.
You would not have to retreat and you would be defending yourself from a felony should the intruder be armed.
Anyone want to jump in?
Yes, after reviewing the law myself, I have found that you are correct. I even took it up with that FFL License holder I know and showed him the law.
fuck all of you who left a negitive comment. I was the 15 year old kid in the house. you have no idea waht i went through. all of the problems we have. if you had the smallest idea what we’re going through.
Happy to see that you now have electricity or at least battery power, and can now post on the dagger. Welcome to the conversation. When is Mom’s funereal?