This story was updated at 11 a.m. May 8, 2020, to add the identity of the man who was fatally shot.
A Montgomery County police officer fatally shot and killed a man in the White Oak area on Thursday after the man ran at the officer with a butcher knife, police said.
Finan H. Berhe, 30, of White Oak, died after he was shot by the officer, police wrote in a press release Friday morning.
Police Chief Marcus Jones said in a press conference Thursday afternoon that the police got a call around 2:15 p.m. from neighbors in the 1500 block of Hadden Manor Court. The caller reported that a man had thrown a rock at their window and yelled at them to call the police.
“The neighbors noted to us at that time, the individual was holding a large butcher knife,” he said.
Berhe was causing a disturbance in the parking lot of the neighborhood, police wrote in a press release later on Thursday.
Jones said responding officers found Berhe holding the knife and ordered him to get on the ground multiple times. Berhe rushed at a male officer, who retreated and repeated his command for the man to get on the ground and to drop the knife.
Berhe walked backwards, then rushed toward the officer, pointing the knife. The officer then shot Berhe, Jones said.
Jones said the officer applied first aid, and Berhe was taken to the hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Jones did not give the name of the officer or the man who was shot on Thursday. On Friday morning police released Berhe’s name but had not identified the officer who shot him
Jones said that a neighbor took video of the shooting, and there is footage from a body camera the officer was wearing.
Jones said police are interviewing witnesses.
The officer is a 17-year veteran of the police department, police wrote in the press release on Thursday.
Officer Rick Goodale, a police spokesman, said in an earlier interview Thursday that the department’s protocol for officer-involved shootings is to place officers on paid administrative leave while it is investigated.
The case will also be reviewed by the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office under a reciprocal agreement, Jones said.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
