Police commissioner: Slain Baltimore detective was to testify in case of indicted officers Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis gives an update on the investigation into Detective Sean Suiter's killing. (Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun video)
Justin Fenton Contact Reporter
Slain Baltimore homicide Detective Sean Suiter was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury in the case against a squad of indicted officers on the day after he was shot, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said Wednesday evening.
The revelation brings together two cases that have sent shock waves through the Police Department and the city as a whole: the federal prosecutions of eight members of the department’s elite gun task force, who are accused of shaking down citizens and conspiring with drug dealers, and the killing of Suiter last week in West Baltimore, the first of an on-duty officer by a suspect in 10 years.
Davis said Wednesday that federal authorities have told him “in no uncertain terms” that Suiter was not a target of their investigation into the Gun Trace Task Force. He said authorities have no reason to believe Suiter’s killing was connected to his pending testimony.
“The BPD and FBI do not possess any information that this incident ... is part of any conspiracy,” Davis said. He said evidence shows the shooting occurred spontaneously, as Suiter investigated a suspicious person in the Harlem Park neighborhood.
“There is no information that has been communicated to me that Detective Suiter was anything other than a stellar detective, great friend, loving husband and dedicated father,” he said.
Davis also said that Suiter is believed to have been killed with his own service weapon, which was fired at close range, and that there was evidence of a struggle before the shooting.
Police have not identified a suspect or made arrests in Suiter’s shooting Nov. 15. Investigators locked the neighborhood down for several days after the shooting to gather evidence and interview potential witnesses. Authorities are offering a reward of $215,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Police say Suiter and a partner were conducting a follow-up investigation on a triple homicide in the 900 block of Bennett Place when he saw someone acting suspiciously in a vacant lot and approached. The 43-year-old detective, a married father of five, was shot once in the head.
He died the next day.
Davis described for the first time surveillance video of the scene. The footage shows Suiter’s partner seeking cover across the street. Davis backed his actions.
“Upon the sound of gunfire, Detective Suiter’s partner sought cover across the street,” Davis said, reading from a prepared statement. “He immediately called 911. We know this, because it is captured on private surveillance video that we have recovered.”
Mayor Catherine Pugh was briefed on the case Wednesday and said she asked Davis to disclose the information to the public, due to theories swirling in the community.
The Gun Trace Task Force was entrusted with executing a key element of Davis’ strategy against the city’s historic surge in killing: getting illegal guns out of the hands of the trigger pullers who are driving the violence.
But a federal grand jury indicted eight task force members earlier this year on charges of racketeering and other violations, and authorities are continuing to investigate allegations related to the squad.
Four officers have pleaded guilty, and at least two of them are cooperating with authorities.
The other four members have pleaded not guilty. They are scheduled for trial in January.
Davis said he was told by federal prosecutors that Suiter was to testify in the case of the indicted officers in relation to an incident from several years ago. It was not clear whether his testimony would be helpful or harmful to the officers.
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Poster Comment:
Dirty cops lured by the chance of easy money from seized contraband. Not good.