


The head of Baltimore City’s police union is defending the actions of two officers who opened fire on a car early Saturday morning, killing two suspects. Baltimore police say shots were fired at the officers from a moving Ford Taurus, outside of Fourth of July party before. It happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday outside the AFCSME union hall near Carroll Park in southwest Baltimore.
Police charging documents identify the men who died as 21-year-old Raemond Paul White and 18-year-old Haywood Theodore White Jr. The man who survived is 22-year-old Darryl White Jr.
Electronic court records say White was charged with several handgun violations and possession of marijuana and is being held on $175,000 bail.
Charging documents say security personnel from the party asked the men to leave. Once outside, police say they began firing hand guns into the air. When officers approached, police say they and uniformed officers approached after the men began firing into the air. When officers approached, police say their behavior turned lethal.
“We did not shoot them for shooting up in the air; they were shooting at the officers,” said Paul Blair, the head of FOP Lodge #3 in Baltimore.
Police are not releasing the names of the officers, who have been placed on routine administrative duty pending an investigation.
So far in 2008 there have been 12 suspects killed by police. Thirteen were killed in all of 2007. “The officers were totally justified in using force to combat the force that was used on them,” Blair said. “There is no such thing as a quiet night in the city of Baltimore when you have a uniform on patrolling these streets.”
On Monday, family members of Darryl, Raemond and Haywood white declined to comment. ABC-2 News reached the head of the local AFSCME unit by phone, but he also declined to comment -- so it is still not known who rented the hall for that party.
(abc2news.com)