An off-duty federal police officer shot and killed two people he believed had broken into a car at a Maryland condominium complex, according to local authorities.
The shooting happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the complex in Takoma Park, a suburb about 7 miles from Washington, D.C.
The off-duty Pentagon Force Protection Agency police officer said he thought a car was being burglarized, according to a statement from the Takoma Park Police Department.
He approached the people near the car, and they “failed to follow his direction,” police said in the statement. “The suspects attempted to flee in a vehicle, at which time the officer discharged his service weapon.”
A short time later, police said, “two of the suspects involved arrived at Prince George’s Hospital, both suffering from gunshot wounds.” Both of them died at the hospital.
It’s unclear whether the two people had been breaking into the car.
Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough confirmed to the CNN that a Pentagon officer had been placed on administrative leave during an investigation of the incident.
She said that the officer had been employed with the agency since July 2019 and, before that, had been a federal police officer and a U.S. Army military policeman.
