A Bowie, Maryland, police officer, Sgt. Robert Warrington has been charged with attempted murder following a September 12 incident in which he fired at an unarmed man on a busy road. Around 8 a.m., Warrington approached a white SUV parked along Collington Road near Route 50 to check on its occupants. A man, who remains unidentified, explained to News4 that he was retrieving a hat that had blown away, while his girlfriend and children waited in the SUV.
As the man returned to the vehicle, he held one hand over his stomach and a bloodstained cloth in the other. Warrington asked, "Are you here to help her?" to which the man replied, "Nah, she's taking me to the hospital." Moments later, Warrington fired, claiming, "He had a gun. He had a gun." The man responded, "I don't have a gun," while a woman in the SUV screamed, "What did you do? Why did you do that?"
The shot missed the man but struck a passing minivan. No one was harmed, but the man expressed shock, stating, "As soon as my ears stopped ringing, I turned around and asked the officer why did he shoot me." Instinctively, he pulled out his phone to record the incident.
The video, later released by the Bowie Police, provided clear evidence of the encounter. Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy noted, "The video…speaks for itself. The actions were not in line with the training or the orders of the Bowie City Police Department."
Bowie Police Chief Dwayne Preston expressed his support for the grand jury's decision and confirmed that Warrington, a 12-year department veteran, has been suspended without pay.Â
The officer now faces charges of attempted second-degree murder and reckless endangerment.
Link: NBC Washington
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