Montgomery County police have arrested a 16-year-old and charged him with first-degree assault after he drove an SUV into an officer in a Gaithersburg church parking lot Wednesday night, police said.
Two off-duty officers, in uniform were directing traffic at the Church of the Redeemer on Woodfield Road, when they received a report of a vehicle driving erratically.
The officers tried to stop the SUV when it suddenly accelerated and hit one of them, Montgomery County police said.
The officer that was hit then fired shots, according to police.
Joseph W. Nelson of Clarksburg was arrested overnight and charged as an adult in the case, police said.
He was not hit by any of the shots fired by the officer, according to police.
Police were still trying to figure out a motive for his erratic driving, they said Thursday morning.
The officer has been treated and released from the hospital.
There was a Thanksgiving service going on inside the church at the time of the incident. No one attending the service was injured.
