BALTIMORE _ A man has died after being shot by a Baltimore County police officer who was hit by the man's SUV while working security at a Parkville strip mall.
Baltimore County police spokesman Shawn Vinson said the officer was working in his police uniform as a security guard for the Parkway Crossing shopping center. He was wrapping up his shift when he went into the center's parking lot around 8:30 p.m., after another guard saw a black 2011 Chevrolet Suburban driving erratically near the mall's ShopRite. The officer stopped the driver near the grocery store's entrance and the driver opened the door, Vinson said.
"At some point the driver accelerated the SUV," Vinson said, either dragging the officer or hitting him. The SUVwas then hit by a white 2016 Toyota Avalon, pinning the officer between that car's door and the SUV. The officer shot at the SUV driver with his service weapon, striking him at least once in his upper body.
The driver, 28-year-old Derrick Alexander Sellman, of Northeast Baltimore, died at Sinai Hospital, Vinson said.
The SUV crashed into another car in the parking lot before coming to rest close by. It remained in the parking lot Monday night, a mangled wreck. The officer was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and was released by Tuesday morning.
Police had not released the officer's name as of Tuesday morning.
Because the officer was working secondary employment at the time of the incident, he was not wearing a body camera. Baltimore County police officers are not required to wear body cameras while working other security jobs, though they can choose to wear body cameras if they are engaged in authorized work wearing Baltimore County police uniforms.
Baltimore County police officers have previously been involved in shootings while working as security guards. Last year, an off-duty police officer fatally shot a man suspected of shoplifting detergent in Catonsville. That incident prompted Baltimore County officials to consider requiring officers who moonlight as security guards to wear their body cameras.
About an hour after the shooting Monday, officers took photos and collected evidence in the shadow of the ShopRite as shoppers waited to access their cars, which had become part of a crime scene. One was Mike Martin, who said he had seen the officer on the ground after being hit by the car and heard a few shots being fired.
The man who had been driving the white car _ which struck the police officer earlier _ surveyed the damage to his car.
"I'm glad everyone survived," he said. He declined to give his name, saying police had directed him not to talk to the media.
"It's getting worse," said Andrea Norris, who had gone to the ShopRite hoping to buy some salad, but found the store was now closed because of the crime scene. Days earlier, she said, an 18-year-old boy had been shot close by. "I can't even go to the parking lot," she said.
