By Justin Fenton
The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Police officer who was shot in the stomach while performing a traffic stop Dec. 14 was transferred to Maryland Shock Trauma Center on Friday night.
Officer Andrew Groman had been getting care at Sinai Hospital, where police have reported his condition as “stable.” Police have arrested a 19-year-old man who they say shot Groman after refusing to get out of a vehicle that Groman and other officers had pulled over.
Lt. Sarah Connolly, a police spokeswoman, confirmed that Groman was transferred to Shock Trauma on Friday evening but could not elaborate on his condition or why he was moved.
A hospital spokeswoman said Groman was listed Saturday in “fair” condition.
Mary Kunaniec Skeen said she was driving on Interstate 83 at about 6:45 p.m. when she saw what appeared to be a dozen city police cars with lights and sirens flashing, accompanying an ambulance that “came roaring down the expressway.”
“This forced us, and many others, to pull over and then try to regain access to the highway in the midst of high-speed traffic,” she said in e-mail to The Baltimore Sun inquiring about the nature of the incident. “This was a very dangerous situation.”
Connolly said she could not confirm that the incidents were related.
Groman, 27, joined the Police Department three years ago. He had previously been a volunteer firefighter in a town north of Philadelphia, and continues to volunteer as a firefighter in Pikesville.
The shooting occurred in West Baltimore in the 2600 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway. Police have charged Donte Jones, who had two previous handgun arrests.
The Baltimore Sun reported Monday that Jones was on probation for a handgun offense when he was arrested again and charged with having a handgun in June.
A judge set his bail at $150,000, which he was able to post. But that should have also triggered a violation of his probation and a separate arrest warrant for which he was unlikely to get bail, and probation officials say they are investigating why that warrant never made it to court.
Copyright 2014 The Baltimore Sun