By David Anderson and Bryna Zumer
The Aegis
BEL AIR, Md. — Stratton Court, a normally quiet residential street in the Bel Air South area’s Bright Oaks neighborhood, was the scene of a standoff Thursday between Harford County law enforcement and an allegedly suicidal, off-duty Baltimore County police officer, who was shot and wounded by Harford Sheriff’s Office deputies.
By Friday morning, the street appeared back to normal, with residents walking their dogs and landscape crews putting down mulch. Folks who were willing to talk about the previous day’s events praised the police for keeping them safe and not creating a major spectacle on their street.
Bernie Jubb, a 28-year resident of Stratton Court, was having some landscaping done Thursday afternoon when he heard a very upset woman run outside talking on her phone. He and the landscaper hid after the first shots rang out.
“The Sheriff’s Office did a wonderful job,” Jubb said, adding that he had expected an onslaught of sirens and police, but none came.
“It was kept right up there,” he said, explaining the police activity was mostly confined to the end of Stratton Court’s cul-de-sac, around the home owned by the man who was shot, 42-year-old James Ward.
“They didn’t make everyone in the neighborhood panic,” Jubb said.
Todd Hartman, an Edgewood resident, who was doing landscaping work at Jubb’s house, said “you didn’t have time to think” during the incident.
He said the upset woman ran from the cul-de-sac toward the nearby intersection with Bright Oaks Drive, and a Sheriff’s Office deputy wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle came up the street toward Ward’s house about three minutes later.
Hartman heard the exchange of gunfire between Ward and the deputies. He pointed out a spot, marked with red spray paint, on the cul-de-sac where he saw a deputy shoot at Ward.
“Once we heard the pop, pop, pop [of shots], we took off,” he said.
Hartman, an Army veteran, praised the Sheriff’s Office for keeping Ward contained and keeping neighbors safe.
“I wasn’t that scared, because I knew how they had him and what was going on,” Hartman said.
The standoff began around noon and ended shortly before 3 p.m. with Ward being shot by deputies after he allegedly fired on them following negotiations and “repeated attempts to convince him to surrender,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Ward, a 19-year veteran and an officer first class with the Baltimore County Police Department, was taken by ambulance to the nearby Patterson Mill High School football field and then flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with what were described by police as serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Ward was still in the hospital in stable condition Friday afternoon, the Sheriff’s Office said.
In a statement released after the incident, Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson said Ward would be suspended without pay as soon as felony charges are filed by Harford County.
The Harford Sheriff’s Office issued an arrest warrant Friday for Ward, charging him with multiple counts of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault, according to Cristie Kahler, spokesperson for the agency.
The Sheriff’s Office had gotten a report of a suicidal man who had been drinking heavily and shots had already been fired inside the house, Kahler said. Ward allegedly shot at deputies who were taking cover behind a tactical vehicle; they fired back and hit Ward.
Deputies knew from the beginning Ward was a police officer, based on information provided from dispatchers, Kahler said.
They fired twice at Ward, who suffered severe injuries to his hands and arms.
“He was shooting from inside his house when deputies returned fire,” Kahler said. “then he walked out to surrender.”
Police are trained “to shoot to stop the threat,” which generally means the largest mass they can see.
“Often times that does lead to the death of the person,” she said.
Ward was not treated differently because he is law enforcement, Kahler said.
“This was a case where a person was firing at a tactical vehicle with deputies behind it.
At that point they are to stop the threat, regardless of hte occupation of that person who is a threat to himself and the community,” she said. “Once that person starts firing, it doesn’t matter, they have to protect the community.”
According to online court records, a judgment of absolute divorce between James Lawrence Ward, of the Stratton Court address, and Kelly Lynn Ward was granted by a Harford County judge April 5.
The single family, split-level home where the standoff occurred has been for sale and is under contract, according to Laura Snyder, of the Laura Snyder Homes Group with Keller Williams Realty of Bel Air. Snyder said the house had been on the market about three weeks.
Using social media and via telephone, the Sheriff’s Office officials had urged neighborhood residents to “shelter in place,” while deputies pleaded with Ward over a megaphone to put down his gun and surrender, according to residents.
Kathy Mack, who lives on Bright Oaks Drive directly across the street from Stratton Court, said the situation was chaotic, but still handled well.
“We heard the shots and we heard them again when there was rallying back and forth,” Mack, who has lived on Bright Oaks for 43 years, said.
She also saw the woman on her phone, crying, run outside and come down the street at the start of the incident.
“She was parked down the street and the police were trying to console her,” Mack said.
Mack said she saw police bring Ward down the hill covered in blood after the shooting.
“They made him walk; they weren’t taking any stuff from him,” she said.
Mack, whose son-in-law works for the Baltimore Police Department, said the Sheriff’s Office did a great job calling neighbors and asking them to stay in their houses.
“Harford County is very good with this,” she said. “They kept calling on the phone and telling us what to do.”
Mack was understanding about the situation, although “it’s not the best thing I would like to happen in my neighborhood.”
“I hope the gentleman will be OK. It’s a shame that he is a police officer, and that makes it even worse,” she added.
Copyright 2016 The Aegis