# Look Back At Shooting In Maryland



## Inspector (Nov 13, 2006)

*BALTIMORE -- *For nearly two years, the Fisher family has not spoken publicly about the loss of their 18-year-old son.Justin Fisher was killed in a standoff with police as he was armed with a pair of scissors. The family spoke for the first time to WBAL TV 11 News I-Team reporter Deborah Weiner and questioned the use of lethal force.According to Justin Fisher's family, their son had it all -- he was captain of his high school football team, captain of the lacrosse team, an MVP, an honor roll student and an all-around Cardinal Gibbons High School stand out athlete.

"It never crossed my mind that they would shoot him," said Janice Fisher, the teen's mother.During the spring semester of Justin Fisher's freshman year in college and on Mother's Day 2006, Janice Fisher said she was awakened by the beep of a text message on her cell phone."It was a message from Justin's girlfriend stating there was trouble. 'Somebody help me. Help me please. He's stabbing me. He's stabbing through the door. There's blood everywhere,'" Janice Fisher said, explain the text message.Justin Fisher had been battling depression, anger and volatile outbursts for months, his family said.His psychiatrist had once told Janice Fisher to call 911 if things escalated. She said she made that call at 4:23 a.m."My son evidently -- he's got some psychotic issues, and he's evidently having a problem. We're on our way there," Janice Fisher told the 911 operator.Officers on the midnight shift from the Anne Arundel County police department headed to the scene in Riviera Beach.Police said Justin Fisher's girlfriend was not seriously hurt, and the teen was in the neighborhood near her home at the time. Police said they believed he was suicidal."When we got there, there were &#8230; about 10 police officers with guns drawn with Justin standing in the middle of the road. And these 10 police officers were lined in a semicircle across the road," Janice Fisher said. "They escorted us down where he was, but they would not let us go beyond a certain point."Justin Fisher was about a half a block away from them at the time, his mother said. ​Justin Fisher

Police said they ordered him to drop what they thought was a knife. When it was clear what he had -- a nine-inch pair of scissors -- police repeatedly urged him to drop them."I remember saying, 'Justin. Drop the scissors.' And he said, 'Mom, give me a hug.' And I said, 'I can't till you drop them. You have to drop the scissors,'" Janice Fisher said.But he wouldn't, she said.At 4:49 a.m. in a radio transmission obtained by the I-Team, an officer at the scene requested help from the only unit that has a less-than-lethal option available -- the Special Operations Section. The transcript read:_Officer: "If we could get something a little less lethal, we'd prefer to take him down that way."
Dispatch: "Do you need SOS out there?"
Officer: "No, not at this time. But, like I said, I didn't know if they had anybody working still in the area who might have a beanbag gun or something like that."
Dispatch: "No. There's nobody on duty right now."_Weiner spoke with Cpl. Mark Shawkey of the Anne Arundel County police. He said that the unit that has the beanbag alternative does not work around the clock. He said he couldn't comment on the case because the family is still considering litigation.At the scene of the incident, Justin Fisher taunted officers to shoot him, and his mother said she begged for a Taser to be used."The one officer said, 'We have one on the way,' and the same officer said, 'When is it going to be here?' And then it was, 'We don't have a Taser,'" Janice Fisher said. She said she then asked if they had something else.At the time, Tasers were illegal in Anne Arundel County and patrol officers did not carry modified shotguns with beanbag rounds as they currently do, Weiner reported.The midnight shift officers only had their service revolvers, and four of them fired when they said Justin Fisher advanced toward them, swinging the scissors aggressively.At the scene, Janice Fisher, her husband, Dennis, and their other son, Brandon, said they watched Justin Fisher go down. They insisted he was not charging at the officers and that the scissors were by his side."You could actually see him looking for Brandon and me. As soon as he picked us out, he took one or two steps. On the third step, he was shot," Dennis Fisher said."Evidence at the scene is showing us he may have been within two feet of us," said police Chief Thomas Shanahan at the time of the incident."As soon as it was fired and it hit him, I remember the scream. (I screamed) 'You didn't have to shoot him,'" Janice Fisher said."Brandon came from the side. Four to five cops grabbed him and handcuff him. They grabbed me and handcuffed me, and they grabbed Janice and wouldn't let us get to Justin," Dennis Fisher said. "And Justin was dying in the middle of the road."Janice Fisher told Weiner that she regrets calling 911.An autopsy of Justin Fisher revealed that there were six gunshot wounds to his body -- an outcome that has raised questions, according to University of Baltimore criminologist Jeffrey Ross."The decision for the police officer who is coming to some sort of incident is not if he or she should use force or not use force -- it's how can they best resolve the situation," Ross said. "I don't believe that police officers are getting enough training to deal with people who have psychological problems."Within weeks of the Justin Fisher shooting, beanbag shotguns were made available to every patrol shift at the Anne Arundel County Police Department and Tasers were also purchased. Police officials insisted that the options were in the works well before the deadly standoff.Janice Fisher said that she believes her son would still be alive if those items had been available at the time of the incident.The Fishers said they still cheer on the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders and try to remember their son at his best, though the day when he was at his worst is an image that's impossible for them to forget.A grand jury chose not to indict the officers involved in the shooting of Justin Fisher, Weiner reported.
WBAL-TV


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