Chief: Delco native 'deliberately' shot by colleague
The Delaware County native who was killed Sunday afternoon in Maryland while on duty as an undercover police officer was "deliberately" shot by a fellow officer who did not recognize him and who viewed him as an armed threat, the department's chief said Wednesday.
The Delaware County native who was killed Sunday afternoon in Maryland while on duty as an undercover police officer was "deliberately" shot by a fellow officer who did not recognize him and who viewed him as an armed threat, the department's chief said Wednesday.
However, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said he did not believe the officer acted with "any malice" when he discharged his gun at Jacai Colson, a narcotics officer who was in plain clothes.
At a news conference in Maryland, Stawinski declined to release other details, saying he had not yet taken statements from all of the officers involved.
"I do not believe for a second that a police officer intentionally fired at another police officer," Stawinski said on the department's Twitter account Wednesday afternoon.
In an interview, Stawinski said it was clear that the officer who shot Colson feared for his life.
The unexpected news came just 72 hours after Colson, raised in Boothwyn, was shot and killed outside the Landover police station during an ambush by three brothers Sunday afternoon.
Police said Monday that Colson had been killed by friendly fire when six officers responded to a chaotic shooting situation outside the department's front doors.
Michael Ford, 22, of Landover, opened fire around 4:30 p.m., police said, first shooting cars and an ambulance that passed by before turning his gun on the first officer he saw.
His brothers, Malik, 21, and Elijah, 18, sat in a car nearby recording the incident. Before the shooting spree began, Michael Ford told the siblings "he did not expect to survive," Stawinski said Monday.
Colson, who arrived just moments after Ford began shooting, returned fire. Three other officers did the same.
"The environment was incredibly chaotic," Stawinski said, describing it as a situation in which officers "were under fire immediately" and "fearing for their lives."
Stawinski declined comment on whether the officer who fired on Colson believed Colson was a suspect because he was not wearing his uniform.
"I won't suppose what the officer might have believed," Stawinski said.
"I'm saying that we believe that that round was not errant ... and that unfortunately it struck and killed Detective Colson," he said.
He did not provide information as to how many shots were fired at the four-year veteran of the department.
Asked whether race might have been a factor in the shooting of Colson, an African American, Stawinski said he was "very uncomfortable with the notion" that it would be introduced into the conversation. The Fords are black.
In a follow-up statement, State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said her office would investigate every aspect of the shooting, including whether race was involved.
The Ford brothers are in custody and are held without bond. Michael Ford, still hospitalized on Wednesday, faces more than two dozen charges, including second-degree murder.
Colson, who died just days before his 29th birthday, was Chichester High School's starting quarterback for three years - a position that earned him so much respect that friends often endearingly referred to the school as "Jacai-chester High," according to a friend, Sean Armstrong.
"It was Jacai's world, and everyone knew him and everyone loved him," Armstrong said Monday.
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This article contains information from the Associated Press.