Authorities released police body camera footage on Thursday after officers in New Carrollton, Maryland, shot and killed a man suspected of killing two men during an 11-hour crime spree last month in D.C. and Maryland.
Artell Cunningham, of Suitland, was killed after police say he carjacked at least three people, tried to carjack others and shot and killed two men. Cunningham was 28.
Police shot him in the parking lot of a laundromat on Annapolis Road on Jan. 30, graphic video footage shows.
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” an officer shouts after the gunfire.
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The two officers turned on their cameras after the shooting. It was unclear why.
“Don’t touch the guns! Don’t touch the guns!” an officer repeatedly shouts at Cunningham.
As the officers approach Cunningham, they kick two guns out the way and put him in handcuffs, as is standard practice for officer safety.
“I’m going to start CPR,” an officer says.
Cunningham is suspected of killing Alberto Vasquez and Michael Gill in D.C. and then going on a carjacking and shooting spree that lasted until early the next morning. Investigators say Cunningham shot at police officers three times before his encounter with New Carrollton police.
The footage shows it took as long as three minutes before police began CPR in the parking lot, and that it ultimately was unsuccessful.
Cunningham’s family knew he was in crisis, source says
Cunningham’s family knew he was in crisis and tried to find him, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told News4.
At least one of Cunningham’s relatives showed up on K Street, where Gill was shot, because they could see that Cunningham’s phone had pinged in the area, the source said.
News4 went to Cunningham’s mother’s home on Thursday and spoke with a woman through the door. The woman, who said she was a family friend, said she spoke with Cunningham’s mother and that she said her son left a note indicating he had tried to die by suicide before and was in crisis.
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A spokesman for the independent investigations division would not confirm the existence of the note and declined to comment.
