This story, originally published at 7:20 p.m. Sept. 22, 2024, was updated at 8:55 p.m. with the statement from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and to correct the community where the incident occurred.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General is investigating the Saturday night fatal shooting of a man by a Montgomery County police officer responding to a report of an assault in progress in Wheaton, according to authorities.
Officers responding shortly before 8 p.m. to the 3400 block of Janet Road encountered a man in a yard holding an object in his right hand, the attorney general’s office said Sunday in a statement. The location is near Weller Road Elementary School.
“Police shouted commands at the man to ‘drop the knife’; however, the man did not comply and began crossing the street. One officer discharged his service weapon, striking the man,” the statement said. “A grill fork was recovered near the man’s body. No officers were injured.”
In a statement Saturday night, county police had said the man approached an “officer and victims he had allegedly assaulted earlier” after failing to respond to multiple commands. “The officer subsequently shot him,” the statement said.
Officers provided life-saving measures until Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews responded and the man was pronounced dead, the statement from the attorney general’s office said.
The statement did not identify the man.
As required by state law, the attorney general office’s Independent Investigations Division will handle the shooting investigation, the office’s statement said.
The Independent Investigations Division will “generally release the name of the decedent and discharging officers within two business days of the incident, although that period may be extended if there is a specific reason to believe that an officer’s safety is at risk,” the statement said.
