BALTIMORE (WJZ)– A Baltimore City police officer is attacked. Another officer, fatally shoots the suspect. The violence broke out on Saturday in West Baltimore.

Adam May reports friends of the deceased have lingering questions.

On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., police got a call about a burglary at a vacant home in the 1600-block of W. Lexington Street. Police say when officers went inside, they were attacked.

“The suspect engaged the officers with what either is a knife or a bottle,” Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the Baltimore City Police Department, said. “The officer suffered lacerations to his face. After that moment, another officer discharged his service weapon in defense of that first officer.”

As the officer was treated for non-life threatening injuries, friends of the man who was shot wonder what happened.

“How could he rob a vacant house?” Glenn Holly asked.

Holly says the man was a homeless Vietnam veteran living in the vacant home for months.

“I saw him this morning. We were playing pinochle by the horse stable,” Holly said. “He said he was going to take a walk. The next thing, he got killed.”

Witnesses tell WJZ they heard about half a dozen shots.

The officers involved in the shooting are on routine administrative leave pending the investigation. 

They were later identified as Officer John Kosko, 24, a 2-year veteran of the force, and Officer Robert Perisco, 21, who has been with the force since September 2011.   Kosko suffered a cut to the face.