A Montgomery County police officer who shot and killed a bank robber earlier this year in Silver Spring will not face criminal charges after the Howard County state’s attorney determined the use of lethal force was justified.
On the morning of Jan. 16, Mikyas Mehary Tegegne walked into the branch manager’s office at a BB&T Bank in Silver Spring, brandished a handgun and demanded $20,000, telling the manager he had a bomb in his backpack “capable of blowing up the entire bank,” according to police reports.
Tegegne, 31, left the bank and was confronted by Montgomery County officer Christopher LaPointe near the Metro transit station.
After reviewing body camera footage from LaPointe and other officers, Howard County prosecutors say Tegegne did not comply with LaPointe’s commands when told to stop walking and he told officers he would detonate his explosive device if officers came near him, according to a report released Friday by the Montgomery County state’s attorney’s office.
Officers followed Tegegne through a parking garage and after Tegegne discarded his backpack, LaPointe fired his service pistol at the suspect five times.
Tegegne was struck in the back of the head and left side of the back and died less than an hour later at a nearby hospital.
Investigators believe LaPointe did not see Tegenge drop his backpack and thought Tegegne still had it when he fired.
“I couldn’t let him get on the Metro with the thing,” LaPointe said, as other officers approached the scene of the shooting, according to investigators’ reports.
Police believe Tegegne also committed a robbery at Sandy Spring Bank in Silver Spring on Dec. 24.
In Friday’s report, investigators released their findings surrounding the three-month investigation and said “the shooting was in accordance with well recognized use of force standards involving threats of explosive devices.”
Tegegne was still carrying a handgun when he was shot and it was later determined there were no explosives in the backpack.
“Based upon a thorough review of all materials known at this time, it is the opinion of the Howard County prosecutors that Officer LaPointe’s actions on January 16, 2019 were justified and reasonable based on the defense of self and the defense of others,” Friday’s report says.
The report was the first released since the Montgomery and Howard state’s attorneys formalized a longstanding agreement in which each agency investigates each other’s officer-involved shootings.
During a County Council committee meeting on Friday, Montgomery State’s Attorney John McCarthy said the public can expect reports in the future to have a similar format.
“I took out personalized information about the names of officers and witnesses, nothing else. You have the complete investigative summary, minus the names,” McCarthy said. “Every case that occurs in Montgomery County, that template is the one we’re going to use in every case. You will get a published report from me every single time summarizing the entire breadth of investigation.”
The County Council is considering legislation that would require even greater scrutiny of police-involved shootings.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
This story will be updated
