Prince George's Co. Cops Cleared In Shooting Of Axe-Wielding Man

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) -- Three Prince George's County police officers involved in the fatal shooting of an axe-wielding man won't be prosecuted.

State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said Friday that an investigation shows the officers acted reasonably and feared for their lives.

The shooting occurred April 7, when the three officers responded to a residential daycare in Bowie for a report of a man with an axe. Authorities say the man, identified as Albert Denton, refused to drop the three-foot-long firefighter's axe and charged the officers with the weapon over his head.

He was shot and died at the scene.

Authorities say Denton, 38, was trying to pick up his children from the daycare, but that the center had been instructed by their mother not to let him do so.

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