Unarmed Md. Man Fatally Shot by Police After Domestic Incident

An unarmed black man was fatally shot Thursday by officers who thought he had a weapon when they were called to a home from which he was barred by protective order, police said.

Spencer Lee McCain, 41, was shot about 1 a.m. at the condominium in Owings Mills, Maryland, while a woman who said he threatened to beat her was there with her two young children, Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson said at a news conference.

"The police officers encountered a subject in a defensive position, making body movements and arm movements that placed the officers in fear of serious injury or death," Johnson said.

Police said the officers thought the suspect had a weapon, though nothing was found at the scene, and opened fire. Johnson said 19 casings were found at the scene, but it wasn't clear how many times McCain was hit. 

Police said the incident began when one of the children in the home called her grandmother, Rochelle Byrd, who called 911 and asked police to go there.

An officer who arrived heard screams and called for backup, Johnson said.

Police said the woman had head injuries, cuts, bruises and swelling. Johnson said she told detectives that McCain said to her, "You're going to get the beating you deserve."

Sixteen to 20 domestic violence calls had been made to that home address since 2012, police spokesman Cpl. John Wachter said.

Keith Lewis, who has lived next door for five years, said he'd heard yelling and screaming from the home several times, and was awakened by noise early Thursday.

"Something hit the wall. I woke up. I heard yelling. The babies were crying. It sounded like begging and pleading ... Five to 10 minutes later, I saw cruisers. I saw the officers pull up out front. It quieted down, and I drifted back to sleep. Then I heard her yelling again. I heard the door get booted, and then all hell broke loose. I heard probably 10 shots.'"

Lewis said he believed McCain had moved out of the home in the past, but he saw McCain there again starting around the first of the year.

Byrd is the mother of Shannon Sulton, the woman at the home. Byrd said McCain is the father of Sulton's three children.

"They've been together a long time. He was having some issues and he was on medication, but he stopped taking it. (Sulton) told me last week it was starting to get bad,'" Byrd said. `"The Secret Service came because he was ranting and raving about the president. They took him to Northwest Hospital and they put him on medication. And then he was like a different person."

One of the children called Byrd during Thursday's incident.

"I called (the child) back to tell her to open the door for the police and he took the phone. He said, "I'm going to have to commit suicide," Byrd said, fearful that the incident could end in a murder-suicide, with the family dead.

"I never wanted him to die, I just wanted him to get himself together,'" Byrd said. She said that he had been a good father.

Two of the officers are white, and one is black, police said. All are on administrative leave. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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