A man was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Gaithersburg, Maryland, early Wednesday as a federal task force tried to serve a warrant and the suspect waved a knife at the deputy, officials said.
The man was 35, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said. His name was not immediately released.
A second man, a bystander, was shot in the leg, Sheriff Darren Popkin said. He had been “trying to be helpful” and get the first man to surrender, the sheriff said. Popkin declined to say how they knew each other.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, including Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies, tried to serve the man a warrant at a townhouse on Garth Terrace, off Watkins Mill Road, at about 7:30 a.m., Popkin said. The man was charged in a home invasion in 2020 and had failed to appear in court at least once.
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With six to 10 law enforcement officials outside the home, the man crawled out of a window, Popkin said.
“The suspect came out of that window brandishing the knife and was coming right toward the sheriff’s deputy and others. They tried to retreat. They tried to make space. That’s what they’re taught in training, is to try to make space and time,” he said. “But unfortunately that distance was closing quickly. They tried to use a Taser. That didn’t work.”
The man was “approaching very close with a large knife,” Popkin said. “The sheriff’s deputy feared for his life and, as I mentioned earlier, had to discharge his firearm.”
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No law enforcement officials were hurt.
Resident Ken Chow said he was driving in the area when he suddenly saw three law enforcement officials “in action.”
“One was just running out to the other corner, taking cover. Two were diving. I was told it’s not safe for me to pull in,” he said.
Chopper4 footage showed a number of law enforcement vehicles in the area hours later.
The man who was shot and wounded was treated at a hospital and released, Popkin said.
Members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force do not wear body cameras, Popkin said. Investigators are speaking with witnesses, he said.
The Independent Investigations division of the Maryland attorney general’s office handled the scene initially. The FBI then took the lead because of the involvement of U.S. Marshals.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
