A 23-year-old man armed with a spear stabbed his brother multiple times at a residence in Columbia before fleeing the scene and encountering police in a fatal confrontation in the middle of Oakland Mills Road, Howard County Police said late Monday.
The brother, 26, was taken to Shock Trauma and is in critical condition, police said.
A police spokesperson, providing a briefing at a news conference, described confrontations that took place at two separate locations Monday evening.
Police were called around 7:24 p.m. to the 9200 block of Wilbur Court for a report of a stabbing. Police said the caller was the 26-year-old brother, who reported being stabbed many times by his younger brother who had fled the home, said Sherry Llewellyn, Howard County Police director of public affairs.
Two minutes later, Llewellyn said, police received a 911 call from the 23-year-old man, who said he had just stabbed his brother.
The man was at Oakland Mills Road near Carters Lane, and when an officer arrived at the scene, police said, the man was armed with a large, double-edged spear.
“Witnesses reported that the man started to come at the officer, toward the officer with the spear, the officer drew his weapon, stepped back multiple times, directed for the suspect to drop the spear. The suspect didn’t comply, and the officer was forced to fire his weapon,” Llewellyn said.
The man was pronounced dead on the scene, according to police.
Llewellyn said she did not know how many times the 23-year-old had been shot or how many times his brother had been stabbed. Police believe the spear was the stabbing weapon, she said.
She said a medical examiner would provide those answers.
The Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, tasked with examining fatal police encounters or those with injuries that might result in death, will be handling the investigation, Llewellyn said.
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