Victim, suspect dead after shooting at Maryland liquor store

OXON HILL, Md. – A police officer shot and killed a suspect in a fatal shooting at a liquor store, authorities in the Maryland suburbs of Washington said Wednesday.

Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski told a news conference that the armed suspect killed someone about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday at the store in Oxon Hill. Stawinski said the victim was neither the owner nor an employee of the liquor store, adding that he didn’t have any details on what sparked the confrontation between the suspect and the shooting victim. He did say there were two dozen witnesses and surveillance video of the incident.

The chief said the officer who responded to the scene was a member of the department’s robbery suppression team who was in his car and happened to be in the vicinity when the shooting occurred. Stawinski said the officer was on duty and in the area on an unrelated matter. He was in an unmarked car and not in uniform, the chief said.

Stawinski said the officer noticed a commotion, heard several shots and got out of his car to look for the source of the problem.

“At this point, he sees an individual armed with a handgun turning toward him and then moving toward him at a quick pace,” Stawinski said. “Essentially, this individual was running at the police officer armed with a handgun.”

The officer shouted commands for the suspect to stop, but the suspect didn’t heed the instructions and the officer fired “several shots,” Stawinski said.

Police say they found the suspect’s gun next to him and they tweeted a photo of a firearm on the ground. Neither the officer nor the suspect was identified.