Police: 2 officers wounded in Md. shooting

Associated Press

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. — Two Maryland police officers were shot while serving a drug-related search warrant at an apartment building late Wednesday, according to a police department spokeswoman.

Both Prince George's County Police Department officers were flown to a Baltimore shock trauma center with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan told reporters early Thursday. Donelan said one officer was in serious condition and the other was in stable condition.

"The relief that we are feeling right now is really hard to put into words," she told reporters about two hours after the shooting. "Once we give you some of the preliminary details, you'll understand why things were so tense and we were so worried about the health of these two officers."

The shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday as several officers were executing a search warrant at an apartment building in a suburb of Washington, D.C. After getting no response to knocks on an apartment door, officers used a device to open it, Donelan said. The suspect fired a shotgun blast at officers, wounding one in the hand and the other in the shoulder, she added.

"As soon as they were able to open that door, that suspect fired that shotgun," she said.

Another officer fired one shot at the suspect but didn't hit him before officers arrested the suspect.

A "tactical medic" was a member of the team serving the warrant and treated the two wounded officers before they were flown to the hospital.

Donelan said more information about the officers and the investigation would be released Thursday.