Suspect Charged With Shooting Officer in Laurel

The 29-year-old man who shot at police officer in Laurel, Md., has been released from the hospital and now faces several charges.

Stephon Prather was taken into custody Thursday morning after a shootout with police and a 16-hour manhunt. Prather has been charged with numerous counts of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and firearm charges.

He is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center.

Prather was apprehended after another man, Freddy Pina, spotted him while driving to work. Pina said he saw Prather walking along Route 1 in Laurel, not too far from the scene of Wednesday's shooting.

"I saw the guy come out of the woods ...I was driving the car, came back here and told one of the cops. That's all I did," Pina said. 

Officers confronted Prather, and he was taken into custody without incident around 8:45 a.m. Prather was taken from the scene on a stretcher.

"He was barely walking. He had two sticks in his hands," Pina said. "I think he was injured or something."

Authorities said Prather was shot in the leg during Wednesday's shootout with police. He was released from Shock Trauma Thursday night and taken to the Howard County Detention Center.

After Prather was taken into custody, investigators conducted a grid search in the wooded area near where he was found and located a handgun deep inside a storm drain, where they believe he hid during their search. Police believe the handgun is the same weapons used in the shooting of Officer Steven Houk, 30.

His arrest brings great relief. Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said they were concerned about what he was capable of doing.

"This guy took a shot at a cop," McMahon said.

Employees at the AutoMax Used Car lot on Washington Boulevard say Prather came in Wednesday afternoon just before 4 p.m., looking to test drive a car. Salesman Adrian Ledesma communicated with Prather and could tell something wasn't right. He said Prather was impatient to test drive, and said he felt as though Prather had a gun.

Ledesma then called police after Prather's agitation grew. 

Once police arrived at the scene, Prather shot at the officers, who returned fire, authorities said. Houk was struck and transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He is now in stable condition.

Prather fled the scene after the shooting and police from Howard County, the City of Laurel and Prince George's County launched a manhunt, shutting down Route 1, also known as Washington Boulevard, between Gorman Road and Whiskey Bottom Road.

From Chopper4, law enforcement officers armed with rifles could be seen searching through a utility right-of-way that was adjacent to homes, sometimes stopping to train their weapons on one section of the landscape. Other officers could be seen using K-9s to search the area for Prather.

Route 1 was closed for about six hours as heavily armed police officers and K-9 units combed the area searching for Prather. The road reopened just before 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Prather has a criminal past -- in 2006, he shot at a family but no one was hit.