Stunning Footage Gives New Views Of Deadly Police-Involved Shooting In Dundalk
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Stunning new video captures a deadly shootout through the eyes of a Baltimore County police officer.
The just-released footage shows police racing to the scene in Dundalk earlier this month, as a suspect walked out of a city bus with a gun in each hand.
WJZ's Kimberly Eiten got a first look at the brand new evidence, recorded on three different cameras. Video captures everything from the first shots fired to the deadly take down, and the rush to help an injured officer.
It was the afternoon of June 7, when a Baltimore County officer's uniform captured the first warning of an intense gun battle about to go down on Dundalk Avenue.
Bullets flew, and as bystanders ran for cover, one of them took cell phone video.
Feet away, police were on the front lines, using all their fire power to take down 35-year-old Blaine Erb, who was a wanted man.
Officers say he held up two people in a store parking lot before boarding a city bus to flee the crime scene.
When officers stopped that bus, there was no predicting what would come next.
Surveillance video shows passengers scrambling to get out of the line of fire as Erb brandished a weapon in each hand, sparking a 7-minute shoot out.
When the gunfire ended, Erb was dead on the side of the road. A Baltimore County Police officer was bleeding in the street.
Both the officer and another woman hit in the crossfire are still recovering.
"Honestly, I was shocked," says Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger. "I have, in all my years, never seen an individual shooting out of two guns, at the same time, at police in different directions."
Wednesday afternoon, Shellenberger told WJZ that the video shows the shooting of Erb was justified, and he has enough evidence to close this case.
"It was an incredibly dangerous situation that they handled very well," he says.
Baltimore County Police declined to go on camera with WJZ, but told us they back the State's Attorney's decision.
Erb had a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for robbery and assault.
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