2 Dead, 2 Hurt In Baltimore Methadone Clinic Shooting: Police

BALTIMORE, MD — Police said two people died when a man began shooting at a methadone clinic Monday morning on Maryland Avenue in Baltimore. Two were injured: A sergeant with the Baltimore Police Department and an employee of the clinic. The gunman was one of those killed, officials said.

The shooting occurred in the 2100 block of Maryland Avenue, where officers were called for a report of an armed person at 7:09 a.m. on Monday, July 15. Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said the crime scene was a methadone clinic where the gunman went to receive treatment.

“Preliminary indications are that he went in to get methadone and had to be buzzed in because it’s a secure door and was allowed entry,” Harrison reported at a press conference after 11 a.m. “At that point, he began to escalate; and from there, we received the call of an armed suspect.”

He continued: “This was treated as an active shooter scenario.” Harrison explained that although police were called to the location because of an armed person, when they arrived, officers learned from people outside the clinic that the suspect had fired a gun at least two times already.

Despite the officer’s attempts to deescalate the situation, the gunman shot at Sgt. Shiflett, a 25-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, who returned fire, the commissioner said. He only encountered one person who fired at him and only shot at the suspect, Harrison said.

Shiflett was wearing a bulletproof vest and appeared to have been shot in the lower abdomen underneath his vest, according to Harrison. A young officer pulled Shiflett, his supervisor, to safety. “This was a dangerous situation that could have been far worse for our officers,” Harrison said, thanking the young officer for his “extreme courage, extreme bravery and extreme professionalism.” He said the officer would be publicly recognized for his actions.

After being rushed into surgery at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said Shiflett was in stable condition.

The suspect, who was not identified, died after the gunfight; and when officers secured the scene, they found a man in another room who also died from a gunshot wound, according to the commissioner. Both were taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced deceased.

An employee of the clinic also suffered injuries, and hers were not believed to be life-threatening, police said. She was also hospitalized, according to Harrison.

The shooting took place at Man Alive, a methadone clinic at 2117 Maryland Avenue, where a man with a rifle opened fire, including at nurses, witnesses told Fox 45. “It was a chaotic scene,” one man told the news station.

A nurse was held at gunpoint as the suspect tried to get access to the area where methadone was kept, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland Avenue was closed in the area of West 21st Street, and drivers should anticipate road closures in the vicinity.