Baltimore Co. Police ID Man Killed In Overlea Police-Involved Shooting

BALTIMORE (WJZ) - Baltimore County Police identified Kerry Lee Coomer, 59, as the man who was fatally shot in a police-involved shooting Thursday night.

Officers say the shooting happened at Greenwood Avenue in Overlea Thursday around 10:43 p.m. Coomer's estranged wife, who lives nearby, told police he had been arguing with her throughout the day and was suicidal. She also said that he said he wanted to die and pointed a scoped rifle at himself.

Coomer then threatened his wife and another family member and at some point, aimed the rife at them. That's when his wife called police.

When officers approach the home, Coomer, who neighbors say lives there, he was carrying what police call a 'long gun' which they believed to be a rifle or a shotgun.

Police say Coomer came onto the porch when patrol responded, and one officer began to talk to him in an effort to calm him and de-escalate the situation. A second officer provided cover. The first officer provided verbal commands for the suspect to put up his hands and come off the porch, he refused.

"At some point the suspect suddenly reaches sporting rifle and begins to bring it up. The first officer immediately turns and runs for his life. The second fires two rounds with his weapon and strikes the suspect," says Elise Armacost, with Baltimore County Police.

The cover officer fired two shots. Both hit the suspect in the upper body.

Matt Fowler, who lives two doors down, says "it was around 11:30 or so and we heard two loud bangs and looked out and saw some cops standing there trying to call somebody down."

Police say Coomer died at the scene.

"They were calling his name trying to get him to come down talk to him, and eventually they said come on down they have a medic, stuff like that, so, it kinda sounded pretty bad," said Fowler.

The officer involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative status while the incident is reviewed.

Body camera footage from the officer who communicated with the suspect and fled is part of the investigation. The officer who fired the shots was not equipped with a body camera.

BCoPD's body camera program began last July and is expected to be fully deployed by September 30, 2017.

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