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Police: Baltimore Officer Shoots Armed Man

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- A chaotic situation in Northwest Baltimore.  City police say one of their officers shot a man who pointed a handgun at him. 

Mike Hellgren has more on the unfolding investigation.

Police lights pierced the darkness in Windsor Hills, where investigators say the chaos unfolded just after 1 a.m. Tuesday.  They say two officers on routine patrol saw a man who fit the description of a robber.  When they tried to question him, police say the man fled and pointed a loaded weapon at one of the officers, who then fired at least one round from his service weapon and hit the man.

"I didn't know what was going on.  It took me by surprise," said Shannon Stepney.

Stepney, who walks home in those early morning hours, found her house covered in crime tape.

"The officer then fired in defense at the suspect.  He was struck in the chest.  It was a through-and-through wound," said Anthony Guglielmi, Baltimore City Police.

The officer involved is on routine administrative leave.  Police say they will wait 48 hours before identifying the officer.  They haven't identified the man who was shot, either.

Dorothy Hill has lived on Carlisle Avenue for 55 years.

"My neighbor told me all of this was just nothing but police cars, all up and down," Hill said.

She says an incident like that is unheard of in her neighborhood.

"It happens all over.  Nothing shocks me now but I was shocked that it happened in my block," Hill said.

Both homicide and internal affairs are involved in the investigation.

Police say they did find the suspect's gun during a search of the scene.

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