Md. man, officers exchange fire
A 31-year-old Gaithersburg man was charged with attempted murder Thursday after authorities say he opened fire on a police officer.
Phillip A. Watson, also charged with assault, reckless endangerment and other counts, was being held in the Montgomery County jail on no bond Thursday.
Watson. (Montgomery Police)
Late Wednesday night, Gaithersburg police officers in plain clothes were working in the area of School Drive because there had been thefts from cars in the area. On Thursday morning around 3 a.m., a resident in the area called police to say he was going to go outside and check on a suspicious situation. Police advised him to stay inside, police said.
Four officers then saw a man wearing a mask and tried to determine if he was the caller. When they approached, the man started walking back upstairs, toward his apartment.
The officer closest to him, while wearing plain clothes, had a police badge around his neck, police said. The man turned to the officer, displayed a handgun, and fired several times, according to Montgomery County police, who are investigating the incident.
The officer dropped to the floor and began retreating down the steps. One of the other officers returned a shot, police said. No one was hit by any of the bullets.
The suspect then called police, and confirmed he had fired shots, according to officials. He was taken into custody without further incident, police said.
By
Dan Morse
| January 6, 2011; 5:45 PM ET
Categories:
Dan Morse, Montgomery
Save & Share:
Previous: Packages close Md. buildings
Next: Donations sought for victim's funeral
"Police advised him to stay inside, police said."
Yuck. How about: "Police officers said they advised him to stay inside."
Posted by: darrren12000 | January 6, 2011 5:50 PM | Report abuse
This guy is lucky he isn't dead. Firing on police officers because of vehicle burglaries? Is a GPS or iPod really worth either your's or another person's life?
Even if he'd have been arrested, charged and convicted for a crime like that he wouldn't have probably gotten anything more than probation or electronic monitoring.
Posted by: BigDaddy651 | January 7, 2011 9:34 AM | Report abuse
Another clueless dangerous doofus. Shootin at cops is always a good idea. Judges & prosecutors admire that kind of behavior. It shows wise judgment.
Posted by: TaxiDriver | January 7, 2011 9:48 AM | Report abuse
Another clueless dangerous doofus. Shooting at cops is always a good idea. Judges & prosecutors admire that kind of behavior. It shows wise judgment.
Every other man seems to be carrying a gun these days. What a country.
Posted by: TaxiDriver | January 7, 2011 9:50 AM | Report abuse
LOL, yes if Im a police officer and I get a call from a citizen about a "suspicious situation" I always expect to show up at the scene and find the "citizen" wearing a mask! LOL. Are you f*cking kidding me?...What would lead the police to think that this guy is the caller as opposed to some criminal scum? I know when I call the police in my neighborhood to report something, I always make sure to put a mask on so I can greet them when they knock on my door to inquire about my call lol.....this guy in the mugshot looks like he was probably Valedictorian of his high school class yeah....
Posted by: opticlguy | January 7, 2011 11:44 AM | Report abuse
One less hoodrat on the streets!
Posted by: madmike272 | January 7, 2011 2:34 PM | Report abuse
We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.