Maryland police officer shot dead in 'unprovoked' police station gunfight

On Sunday evening, a gunman walked up to a police station in Landover, Maryland, and fired, Prince George's County Police Chief Henry Stawinski III said Sunday night. Officer Jacai Colson, a week shy of 29, was killed in what Stawinski called an "unprovoked attack" on the station, in a suburb about 10 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C. Two suspects have been arrested, one of them wounded but expected to survive.

Colson, who'd been on the force for four years, was an undercover narcotics officer, but Sunday's attack "wasn’t about anything," Stawinski said. "He opened fire on the first police officer he saw." Police haven't identified either suspect, but The Washington Post says they are brothers Malik and Michael Ford of Temple Hills, citing relatives and law enforcement sources. Lascelles Grant, who lives near the police station, told The Post that after hearing what sounded like firecrackers, she looked out her window and saw a man in black shooting a handgun toward the station. "He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot," she said. "Who would shoot a police station on Sunday evening? This is insane."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up