By Elisha Sauers
The Capital
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Cape St. Claire community beach was full of children playing Saturday evening, shrieks and giggles erupting from the playground. But by 7 p.m., every swing was empty.
A crowd of 80 or more gathered in the park for a vigil to honor Cpl. Lawrence “Larry” Adams, an Anne Arundel County police officer who had been shot on Friday. Officials said he remains in critical condition.
“It’s upsetting,” said Matthew Phillips, an officer from the Northern District, who called the county police force a brotherhood. “We all realize it can happen to any one of us.”
He was one of more than a dozen uniformed police officers at the gathering.
Adams, 30, was wounded early Friday morning while on duty less than two miles from the vigil site. The officer went to a 7-Eleven a bit after 2 a.m. When a person told the officer someone standing outside the store seemed suspicious, he confronted the man, a police spokesman said.
Colvin Lamar White, an Annapolis man, is accused of shooting Adams in the upper body after a chase started outside the store. Police have charged White with attempted homicide.
Susan Anderson, the Cape St. Claire resident who organized the event, doesn’t know Adams. But she said that as a daughter of a retired officer, she feels a connection to him.
“When I was little, I used to see my dad drive his squad car out of town, and it made me very proud because my daddy was a police officer,” Anderson said. “While other parents put on a suit, my dad put on a badge and a bulletproof vest.”
Some wrapped their arms around their children while singing “Amazing Grace"; others gazed off to the water. An attempt to light candles was foiled by wind, but people like Claudia Breeden brought spools of blue ribbon and safety pins.
Chief Timothy Altomare called the incident “the second worst nightmare we could’ve gone through.” Though doctors have yet to declare the officer’s condition stable, Adams is able to smile and interact, Altomare said.
“The path that that bullet took was catastrophic but altered just enough that it wasn’t fatal,” he said. It was “scant millimeters” from killing Adams, the chief said.
After a few more prayers, people signed large “get well” posters, thanking Adams for his service and wishing him the best for his recovery.
“It’s been a rough nine or 10 months to be a cop in this country, some of it we’ve brought on ourselves, and some of it we haven’t,” Altomare said. “If I could choose a time that we needed to be told how much we’re still valued by our community ... this would be the case study I’d choose.”
Copyright 2015 The Capital