Taneytown man armed with hammer shot and killed by local police Christmas evening

Taneytown man armed with hammer shot and killed by local police Christmas evening

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, December 26, 2012 http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-police-shooting-1226-20121226,0,6149880.story

The peace and tranquility of a white Christmas in Carroll County was shattered Tuesday evening as word spread quickly through the community of a deadly shooting in Taneytown involving a police officer.

The news comes at a time when many have grown weary of bad news. Not even the unexpected late snowfall on Christmas Eve could overcome the heavy hearts of many just weeks after the December 14 shooting death of 26 people, most of them children, in an elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

Then on Christmas Eve, much of the local news media reported that a gunman in upstate New York allegedly set fire to his house and ambushed and killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two more who were responding to the fire.

Bad news involving firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel always travels quickly in Carroll County that has long been understood as being the home of many of Maryland’s first responders.

Late in the evening on Christmas Day, Greg Shipley, a spokesperson for the Maryland State Police confirmed the incident and released additional details that a Taneytown police officer had shot and killed a man who had threatened the lives of several police officers in the otherwise peaceful northwestern Carroll County community.

Police say that Edward L. Becker, Jr., 26, of the unit-block of Commerce Drive, Taneytown, Md, was pronounced dead at the Carroll Hospital Center, as a result of the incident.

According to Shipley, “A Carroll County man armed with a hammer and acting disorderly was fatally wounded by a Taneytown Police Department officer when he failed to surrender and advanced threateningly at the officer.

The state police say that shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, “the parents of Becker called 911 and reported he had been drinking and was acting disorderly. Becker’s father reported his son was smashing windows out of his truck with a hammer…”

Three Taneytown police department officers responded to the area of the address on Commerce Street, according the police report. At the scene they “saw Becker walking down the street toward them.

“They exited their vehicles and began shouting commands to Becker to drop the hammer and surrender. Becker continued to approach. The officers, who were all in uniform and marked patrol cars, retreated down the street and positioned themselves behind their police cars. 

“The investigation indicates the officers continued to shout commands to Becker to drop the hammer and surrender. Becker ignored the commands and continued to approach the officers…

After Becker got to within approximately an arm’s length of an officer and raised the hammer, one of the officers fired his service weapon, striking Becker.

Police at the scene administered first aid and called emergency medical personnel to the scene.

“The officer involved is a four and one-half year veteran of the Taneytown Police Department…,” say police. The Taneytown police officer has been placed on routine administrate leave by Taneytown Police Chief William Tyler, “which is procedure in police-involved shootings.” 

Tyler “requested the police-involved shooting be investigated by the Maryland State Police homicide unit and troopers from the Westminster Barrack responded to the scene to conduct the investigation, according to Shipley.

The investigation is continuing. Upon completion, it will be forwarded to the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office for review... Taneytown man armed with hammer shot and killed by local police Christmas evening

By Kevin E. Dayhoff http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-police-shooting-1226-20121226,0,6149880.story

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Two Killed In Carroll Co. Plane Crash

TWO KILLED IN CARROLL CO. PLANE CRASH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 8, 2009

(Keymar, MD) The investigation is continuing into this morning’s plane crash in northwestern Carroll County that took the lives of both persons aboard.

The victims are identified as Robert H. Kociemba, 61, of the 700-block of St. George-Barber Road, Davidsonville, Md., who is believed to have been the pilot, and Letty (nmn) Williams, 66, of the 3800-block of Glebe Meadow Way, Edgewater, Md. The two were said to have been friends.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene by members of the Taneytown Volunteer Fire Department. A forensic examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded to the scene and ordered the bodies of both victims transported to Baltimore for autopsies.

At about 7:30 a.m. today, Maryland state troopers from the Westminster Barracks were dispatched to the area of Sharrett Road, just off Rt. 194 in Keymar, for the report of an aircraft crash. Arriving troopers found the two-seat aircraft crashed in a cornfield, about one-quarter mile from the Keymar Airpark, a privately owned airstrip southwest of Taneytown.

The preliminary investigation indicates the victims had taken off from the airpark just minutes before the crash. Their destination was unknown. Troopers contacted federal aviation officials who responded to the scene and are conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.

The aircraft is believed to be a Golden Circle Air T-Bird II, classified by the FAA as a light sport aircraft. The engine and propeller in this type of aircraft are located behind the pilot and passenger.

Troopers learned from the owner of the airpark that Kociemba flew from his airstrip two to three times a week and had rented hangar space from him for about four years. Kociemba was said to have been an experienced pilot.

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CONTACT: Greg Shipley
Office of Media Communications & Marketing

20090808 Two killed in Carroll Co plane crash

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