Baltimore Police Investigate Officer Aiming Gun In Photo
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore police officer is under investigation after a photo shows him pointing his gun at a crowd during a dirt bike rally.
Derek Valcourt with the photo and controversy around it.
It's the picture a lot of people in Maryland are talking about. It was taken on Reisterstown Road Sunday night. Some say it shows an officer dangerously overreacting.
The picture is getting a lot of traction online. It shows a Baltimore City police officer with his arm in the air and a gun in his hand.
"It just seemed so egregious. I just took a few pictures and I just kind of couldn't believe that he did it," said Noah Scialom, freelance photographer.
Scialom snapped the photo as police responded to break up a crowd of hundreds who came to watch dirt bikers along Reisterstown Road Sunday night. He says the officer drew his gun after someone threw a glass bottle near a group of officers.
Valcourt: "Did any other officers pull out their guns?"
Scialom: "No. Nobody else pulled out a weapon."
"In the picture, you can see there's an officer looking at him. And it seemed to me like she… They had words right after that… And it seemed to me that she told him to put it away, that that was not a good idea. He puts it away, and it was over as quick as it started," Scialom continued.
"I was very concerned when I saw that photo," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
The mayor tells WJZ she asked the police commissioner to investigate.
A police spokesman says they take the incident seriously and the officer has been placed on administrative duties during an investigation.
On Facebook, some like Bob Martin call the officer a "coward" with "no business being on the job." But many like Christine Johns Smith applaud the officer, saying: "Looks like he knows how to handle a situation."
Police have declined to identify the officer. The case remains under investigation.
Police say no one was injured Sunday night as they dispersed the large crowd along Reisterstown Road.
