[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
Audio recordings of 911 calls and police body cam footage was released on Friday in what Baltimore County cops described as the official response to Maryland suspect Everton Brown, 56, starting a house fire, killing three people, and engaging in a subsequent shootout with officers. As seen on the video above, beginning at about 16:20, a man identified as Officer Irwin lined up a shot and opened fire. A figure in black on the mid-left side of the screen — the suspect — fell to the ground, but the shootout was not over yet.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Brown was identified as the person who ignited a two-alarm fire and who was subsequently killed by police. Sara Alacote, 37, and Sarah Ghimire, 24, were found outside suffering from gunshot wounds, and Ismael Quintanilla, 41, was found inside his home suffering from stab and gunshot wounds, cops said on Friday. All three of those victims died, but a fourth who was found outside survived gunshot wounds. Brown died on the way to the hospital, police said.
A caller in the newly released 911 audio said she was jarred out of bed to hear someone banging on another person’s front door. She reported hearing three gunshots and saw a man standing in the door with a weapon in hand. During the call, she said she heard a woman screaming and believed she heard three gunshots. The caller suggested that people in the area had known for years that a neighbor had mental health problem. She pointed to signs on the man’s truck and in front of his house which said that the FBI was against him.
In body cam footage, a sign on a red truck next to Brown read, “Black people are the tool used to maintain racism.”
The suspect was Black. He had called police more than 100 times in the preceding 24 years, thought that drones were stalking him, and believed the FBI was breaking into his home to feed his dog, according to The Washington Post. Neighbors said he harassed them and yelled at them using a bullhorn.
Another 911 caller said that a house had exploded and was on fire at the scene on Maury Road.
“Oh my gosh — all we heard was pop, pop, pop, and then a house blew up,” she said, adding that another home was on fire. She reported hearing gunfire and seeing a female gunshot victim on the ground. When asked if the victim was breathing, the caller said she did not know.
“She’s just lying on the ground,” she said.
The fire department said two homes collapsed; a third suffered major damage.
As seen in Irwin’s body cam, a female victim called out for help to officers.
The caller told 911 police arrived, and the operator told her to hang up and speak to officers, but the caller said the suspect was shooting at police.
“Oh, God! I can’t stand by my window,” she said. “He’s shooting at the police. The smoke . . . he shot at the police. Oh, God! They shot him! They shot him!”
Officers at the scene recovered a handgun, knife, and several “homemade explosive devices” (pictured as apparent Molotov cocktails) outside Brown’s home, police said. Per policy, the officers who opened fire remain on administrative duty.
[Screengrab via Baltimore County Police]
