Baltimore Officer Remains In Critical Condition
Surgeons plan to operate again this weekend on a Baltimore City police officer who was shot multiple times Thursday afternoon.
Officer Dante Hemingway, 28, was shot at about 1 p.m. Thursday in Baltimore's Westport neighborhood. WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Darrielle Snipes reported the officer had undergone surgery since 2 p.m.
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm held a press conference shortly after the hospital's first surgical procedure, saying doctors will again operate on Hemingway on Saturday. The officer remains in critical condition.
"His condition is critical, he is not out of the woods yet, but all the injuries that he sustained, those injuries have been repaired," Hamm said.
Hamm said the officer said "I am hurt, I am in pain" after the shooting.
The commissioner said the officer was shot in the neck, chest and stomach and the surgeons worked on "part of the heart, part of the lung, part of the kidney and internal injuries running diagonally across his chest."
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller reported the undercover officer was on duty, wearing civilian clothes, but it's unknown as to what kind of investigation he undertook in the neighborhood.
Hamm said the officer was not wearing a protective vest at the time, but he said that's not uncommon in the specialized police units.
Sources told 11 News Hemingway was confronted and jumped by a number of people at the scene. When the officer fired his service weapon, he struck a suspect in the leg before he himself was shot.
Both the officer and the man he shot were transported to Shock Trauma. Snipes reported from Shock Trauma that police escorted the ambulances to the hospital.
Hamm said police have a suspect in custody, identifying him only as the other man taken to Shock Trauma. As of the early afternoon, 11 News reported another person was in custody, and as of 3 p.m., police were not looking for more suspects.
"We had a person of interest earlier, he's no longer a suspect at this time," Hamm said.
SkyTeam 11 reported as many as 30 police units had canvassed the scene on Wilgrey Court. Miller reported police had rounded up a group of people earlier in the day and detained through 5 p.m. The circumstances as to why those people were taken into custody were unknown.
WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Kerry Cavanaugh reported police tape walled off Westport from south Baltimore for hours. Most of neighborhood began to open up shortly after 5 p.m. after police sealed off most of neighborhood during the investigation.
"(I heard) nine shots go off. Immediately, I knew someone was shooting, and immediately after the shots, police started coming in droves," said William Riddick, a Westport resident.
Miller reported SWAT officers responded to the crime scene as officers conducted a door-to-door search for Hemingway's service weapon. Hamm said the weapon has not yet been recovered. Officers removed some people from their homes so SWAT officers could perform a sweep of the area.
Police said Hemingway has served on the force for seven years, three years of which he served on the vice squad, which commonly handles gambling and prostitution cases.
Hemingway's mother and fellow officers, including a man whose life he saved, are with the officer at Shock Trauma. Shortly after Hemingway arrived at Shock Trauma, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, top police and union officials arrived at Shock Trauma to monitor the conditions of the officer and the man shot.
