Hagerstown Police were at a barricade situation in the city’s North End the morning of Thursday, June 12, with one of their officers recovering from surgery after being shot during the incident, Lt. Rebecca Fetchu said.
Fetchu, the department’s public information officer, said around 11 a.m. that no one else had been shot in the incident.
The barricade situation in the 700 block of Forest Drive was still going on in the late morning, with the Washington County Special Response Team on scene.
Fetchu said the Hagerstown Police officer who had been shot in the arm earlier was out of surgery and seemed to be doing well. His situation was not considered life threatening, she said.
Hagerstown Police were called to Forest Drive at 5 a.m. for a domestic-violence related call, Fetchu said.
“During the course of the call, the male suspect fired a round at one of our officers, striking him once in the arm,” an earlier emailed statement from Hagerstown Police said.
Fetchu, around 11 a.m., said the suspect remained barricaded alone in his home, which is a side-by-side duplex.
She could not confirm around 11 a.m. that all neighbors in the area had been evacuated, but said that neighbors including those in the other side of the duplex had been evacuated hours earlier.
Fetchu also said the victim of the domestic violence call was safe and the suspect was the only one in the home at that time by late morning.
Extracting the suspect safely is Hagerstown Police’s top prority, Fetchu said. Police were hoping for a “safe conclusion” and to make sure no one else is hurt in the incident, she said.
Asked if shots had struck any other homes or vehicles, Fetchu said she was not aware of any.
The scene was along a row of houses in the 700 block of Forest Drive, across from the brick Jamison Door complex.
Forest Drive was blocked off from Charles Street to Prospect Avenue.
Several spectators had gathered along Forest Drive in the block north of the incident, across Prospect Avenue. Fetchu approached the group around 11 a.m., saying they would need to move farther back. There also were people sitting in vehicles, waiting at that intersection across Prospect Avenue.
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What we know about Hagerstown Police officer who was shot
Hagerstown Police were not yet releasing the name of the officer who was shot in the arm, Fetchu said.
That officer is a 19-year law-enforcement veteran, she said.
He was recuperating from surgery at Meritus Medical Center and was surrounded by family and Hagerstown Police staff, she said.
Asked about the circumstances around the time the officer was shot, Fetchu said she did not want to get into that at that time.
Fetchu thanked law enforcement partners for their help, including the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police. Multiple agencies had reached out to see if Hagerstown Police needed anything else, she said.
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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown Police officer shot responding to reported domestic call