In Honor of Trooper First Class Shaft S. Hunter.

STATE POLICE FALLEN HERO TO BE HONORED BY HIGHWAY SIGN

MD. State Trooper
1st Class Shaft S. Hunter

(Jessup, MD) – Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Marcus L. Brown will be joined by State Senator Allan H. Kittleman, Delegate Kevin Kelly, other elected officials, family members, fellow troopers and friends to unveil a memorial highway sign in honor of Trooper First Class Shaft S. Hunter.

Trooper First Class Hunter was assigned to the Waterloo Barracks and was working night patrol on May 21, 2011 when he was killed. While pursuing a speeding motorcycle, his patrol car collided with the back of a tractor trailer that was parked on the shoulder of I-95, near the Maryland Welcome Center, south of Route 32 in Howard County. At age 39, Trooper First Class Hunter, was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served the Maryland State Police for eleven years. He left behind his wife and six children.

The State Highway Administration will be placing a memorial sign along Interstate 95, on both the northbound and southbound sides, near the location of the crash.

WHAT: MEMORIAL HIGHWAY SIGN
UNVEILING

WHEN: FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012, 1:00 P.M.

WHERE: WATERLOO BARRACKS
7777 WASHINGTON BLVD
JESSUP, MD 20794
(410) 799-2101

Two Arrests Made In Killing of Maryland State Trooper

Prince George's County police said Monday they have charged two men in the slaying of an off-duty Maryland state trooper outside a restaurant last week.

Deputy Chief Kevin Davis said Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, and Anthony Anderson Milton II, 28, both of Seat Pleasant, have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 24-year-old Trooper Wesley Brown.

"We believe we have arrested the shooter," Davis said at a news conference with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and other officials. "We believe we've arrested all principal suspects."

Brown was shot early Friday while working as a security guard at an Applebee's restaurant. Brown, who wore a jacket that identified him as an officer, was talking on a phone in the parking lot at the time, state police said.

Officials did not identify which man pulled the trigger, but said they recovered a semiautomatic handgun that was used in the shooting. Davis said Williams was the original person of interest whom Brown had escorted out of the restaurant over a dispute involving an unpaid bill.

Davis said the motive of the killing was because Williams was upset. He said the men did not know Brown before the incident.

Both men have extensive criminal records. Williams was being held in Baltimore and was initially taken into custody on a parole and probation violation. Milton was being held at the county jail.

Milton's bond review is scheduled for Tuesday in Prince George's County. A court hearing has not yet been set for Williams.

Covered in blood, Brown made it back inside the restaurant and passed out, police said. Officials said that Brown was wearing a vest, but it did not stop the bullet from entering Brown's upper body and hitting his heart. He died at a hospital.

Police said tips from the public helped identify and locate the suspects. But they said they still need help in the investigation. A reward of up to $75,000 on information still being offered.

"We still need folks to come forward with information," Davis said.

State Police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan said Brown was "showing great potential." He said officials told Brown's grieving family of the arrests.

"This is a bittersweet moment for us all," Sheridan said. "This was a bad day for the Maryland State Police."

O'Malley said: "There's no way to make sense of madness and cruelty."

Brown's cousin said Brown had eight older sisters and an older brother. He was recently engaged to be married.

State police said funeral services for Brown will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Jericho City of Praise in Landover followed by burial at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland.

www.baltimoresun.com

Off-Duty Maryland State Trooper Fatally Shot While Working Security

Trooper Wesley Brown FORESTVILLE, Md. - Police have released photos of a man after launching a massive manhunt Friday for the gunman who fatally shot an off-duty Maryland State Police trooper working security at a restaurant in Forestville.

Trooper First Class Wesley Brown, 24, was working security at the Applebee's on Donnell Drive overnight after finishing his shift.

As Brown stepped out the front door to make a phone call, a gunman lurking in the shadows near a bus stop on Donnell Drive opened fire.

Law enforcement sources say the gunman fired seven times, hitting Brown with all seven rounds from a distance of about 70 feet. One of the bullets struck Brown's side, which was not protected by his body armor, the sources said; that bullet struck his heart.

"The trooper, it doesn't appear to us, even had a chance to draw his weapon or fire," said Maj. Andy Ellis, a Prince George's County police spokesman. "It appears he was ambushed."

Trooper Wesley Brown Brown stumbled into the restaurant where he collapsed. He was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center where he was later pronounced dead.

The investigation quickly focused on a man Brown had thrown out of Applebee's a half-hour before the shooting. He was described as a black male, 25 - 30 years old, 5'7" tall, weighing 130 pounds, with a dark complexion, short hair, and slight facial hair.

He may wear glasses and was last seen wearing a baby blue Hugo Boss short sleeve shirt with a midway zipper and blue jeans. (See surveillance photos to the left.)

After the shooting, the same man was seen running from the scene toward an apartment building on Donnell Drive.

All day, heavily armed officers combed the neighborhood but they did not find the man.

But investigators aren't certain the man who was ejected from the bar was the gunman, sources say. Police are urging the man to come forward.
"We've never had an unsolved police killing," Maj. Ellis said. "We're going to solve this case. It's better for him to turn himself in right now, contact an attorney and arrange to surrender, rather than have us knock on the door at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Maryland State Police Superintendent Terrance Sheridan says the gunman needs to know the consequence of his actions.

"What he has done is devastate his family, and all of those people he's protecting, day in, day out," Col. Sheridan said. "When this happens it goes against our society that we all stand for."

Family members were notified of Brown's death about 4 a.m.

His sister, Patrice Faison, focused on Brown's work as a mentor to children in his community, "using his own money, to provide education, trips for the young boys," she said. "For a lot of them, Wesley was their father."

Anyone with information about the man in the surveillance video's identity is asked to call the Prince George's County Police Department's Homicide Unit at (301) 772-4925.

Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411 TIPS (8477) or text "PGPD plus your message" to CRIMES (274637).

You can also go to the Prince George's County website and submit a tip online.

There is a total of $50,000 in rewards being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.

Trooper Brown was the 42nd Maryland State Police trooper to die in the line of duty.

www.wjla.com