Two Prince George's County police officers were shot in the line of duty Wednesday night.
One officer is in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries, the second officer is in serious condition and may need surgery. Both are recovering at Shock Trauma
This shooting is still under investigation, but police have confirmed that this all happened around 10:30 Wednesday night in District Heights while officers were executing a search warrant. A nine-person team, which is part of the special operations division, was executing the warrant for the narcotics enforcement division.
When they arrived at the apartment in the 2700 block of Lorring Drive, they knocked and announced themselves, but got no response. They had to use a mechanical device to open the door, and as soon as they did, someone was inside the apartment armed with a shotgun. That person fired one shot, hitting two officers.
One was hit in the hand and the other was hit in the shoulder area. Another officer was able to fire one shot back at the suspect but missed. The suspect was not wounded and did surrender.
Thankfully, there was a tactical medic on the team who was able to start applying immediate emergency medical assistance to both officers. Both were taken to a nearby school where a helicopter came and flew them to Shock Trauma.
The department said in a news conference Thursday morning they are relieved that both officers are alive.
"We could be talking about a completely different situation based on what they encountered when they got into that apartment. So we are very, very, very relieved tonight that both of our officers are alive," said Jennifer Donelan from the Prince George's County Police Department.
Police say there was another person in the apartment during the shooting, but they do not believe that person was involved with the violence the officers encountered. They are in custody along with the shooting suspect.
The officers have not been identified at this time.
