ESSEX, Md. — A knife-wielding Essex man was shot in the chest by Baltimore County Police after he charged after officers Wednesday, police said.
The man, identified by police as 39-year-old Ralph Picarello III, died at the home in the 900 block of Boundbrook Way.
Officers were called to the home around 4 p.m. for a domestic violence call.
Crime scene unit just arrived in the 900 block of Boundbrook Way of fatal OIS in Essex.
— Dave Detling (@WMARDave) May 4, 2022
What we know:
-4pm officers arrived for domestic disturbance call
-2 officers entered home, discharged weapons
-Both wearing bod cams
-Unclear if deceased had weapon@WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/4rlMKRtOnN
A 911 caller said the man inside the home was throwing items at a family member.
Police said the while officers were inside the home, Picarello picked up two knifes.
Officers told the man to drop the knives, but he did not, and quickly charged at the officers with the knives, according to police.
Police said one officer used their taser and two officers fired shots, hitting the man. Picarello died at the scene.
The officers were identified as D. Manning and E. Pellegrino. Manning has been with the department for 1 1/2 years while Pellegrino has been with the department for 11 months.
Neighbors describe Picarello as being around 40 years old.
Family and neighbors told WMAR-2 he died inside his home from three gunshot wounds.
Those two officers were wearing body-worn camera at the time.
"We’re still in the early stages, so I can't provide any detail on what video the video shows at this time, but we will attempt to release that within 14 days, pending that we're able to complete some preliminary things in our investigation," said Thomas Lester, from the Maryland Attorney General's Office.
This is the second police-involved shooting that took place in Baltimore County this year.
Court records suggest Picarello allegedly assaulted a man by punching him in the face on St. Fabian Lane in December.
That case was scheduled for trial next week.
It’s the same block where a woman filed for a protection order against him three months later claiming he had assaulted her and her teenage daughter.
In the petition for that order, she claimed he had stalked her, used drugs in her home and she characterized him as being ‘beyond dangerous’.
She also wrote that he either owned or had access to illegal firearms.
Baltimore County Police are on the scene of a police involved shooting that occurred in the 900 block of Boundbrook Way in Essex. A media staging site has been established at Eastern Technical High School (1100 Mace Ave)
— Baltimore County Police Department (@BaltCoPolice) May 4, 2022
