Baltimore Police Release Body Camera Footage From Christmas Day Shooting Of Man In Behavioral Crisis
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore police on Tuesday released body-worn camera footage of the shooting of Barron Von Coe, the 59-year-old man who was shot on Christmas Day in the midst of a behavioral crisis after he claimed to have a bomb and pointed a gun at responding officers.
Initially, police said Coe opened fire on the officers responding to his house, but Deputy Commissioner Brian Nadeau said Tuesday the handgun recovered from the scene only had one round in the chamber and a firing pin spring was missing, rendering the gun inoperable.
Officers were called to Coe's home in the 4100 block of Crawford Avenue in the Grove Park neighborhood for a family disturbance, said Nadeau, who oversees the Public Integrity Bureau.
Audio from the 911 call includes Coe telling the dispatcher his mother said he's trying to killer her.
Body-worn camera footage shows the responding officer, Devon Galanos, arrived just after 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 25. Coe answers the front door and says, "You're going to need backup, my mother says I'm trying to kill her."
Galanos tried to talk with Coe and asked him to come outside, at which point Coe again asks for backup and says "there's going to be a situation."
Coe, holding a bag, tells the officer, "I've got a problem with United States government."
Galanos asks Coe what's in the bag.
"It's a bad situation, that's why I'm telling you to call backup," he replies.
After continuing to talk with Coe, Galanos asks the dispatcher if any officers with Crisis Intervention Team certification are working at the Northwestern District. Nadeau said Tuesday no officers with that training responded before the shooting happened, and members of the Crisis Response Team were not notified of the incident.
Coe let his sister leave the house and helped his mother to the sidewalk.
Backup arrived about 4:42 p.m., according to the video, and about 10 minutes later, Coe declares: "I have a weapon. I have ammunition. I have knives. And I have an explosive."
"He has a gun in his dip, we saw it," Galanos says, referring to the waist of Coe's pants.
Officers instructed him multiple times not to reach for the gun. They later shout at him to put the weapon down. Around 4:55 p.m., shots ring out.
Following the shooting, footage shows Coe on the ground lifting his weapon again, prompting officers to open fire.
Investigators recovered a box containing wires, tubes and a power source, but they determined it was inert and free of explosive material.
Coe is charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and other charges.
