On Sunday, a 28-year-old narcotics officer in Prince George’s County, Maryland, named Jacai Colson was killed after a 22-year-old named Michael Ford opened fire, for no known reason, on a police station. Police took Ford into custody at the scene; they have also arrested two of Ford’s brothers for recording the shooting on video. From the Washington Post, which quotes Prince George’s police chief Henry Stawinski:
Ford fired randomly at an ambulance, other vehicles and the doors of the station, pinning down officers who poured from the station to confront him, police said. Two of his brothers stood nearby recording the ambush with cellphones as it unfolded moment by agonizing moment …
Stawinski said Ford, who was shot during the incident and is still at a hospital, and his two brothers would face 21 charges for the baffling and coldblooded attack, including conspiracy, second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Police said the Ford brothers did not work with any outside groups and hatched the plan on their own.
Michael Ford’s relatives told the Post that he suffers from bipolar disorder.
Stawinski also said that it’s believed that Colson was killed during the chaos of the attack by accidental fire from fellow officers rather than by a bullet fired by Ford.
