Cockeysville man charged with shooting 2 officers waives bail review
A Cockeysville man who police say shot two officers and led authorities on a day-anda-half-long search will remain in jail until a preliminary hearing in March.
David Emory Linthicum, who faces charges that include attempted murder, waived his bail review hearing Monday afternoon in Baltimore County District Court.
“As the media initially reported, this began as a response to a person in crisis,” his attorney, public defender Deborah Katz Levi, said in a statement. “We are hopeful that this process will be fair and just, as this is a situation that requires ultimate compassion for all who are involved.”
Linthicum is charged with three counts of attempted murder as well as first-degree assault, carjacking, stealing a car, use of a firearm in a violent crime and possession of a loaded handgun in Baltimore County.
A preliminary hearing in Linthicum’s case is set for March 10, according to court records.
Harford County sheriff ’s deputies arrested Linthicum just before dawn Friday after he prompted a search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, shelter-in-place orders for residents and school closures.
The saga began Wednesday afternoon when police were called to a Powers Avenue home in Cockeysville for a report of a suicidal person, according to court documents. When Linthicum’s father took Baltimore County Police officer Barry Jordan to his son’s basement room, the 24-year-old fired 15 rounds from a rifle at them, charging documents said.
Jordan, who was wounded, and Linthicum’s father retreated and David Linthicum apparently fled the home before more police responded, prompting authorities to issue a shelter-in-place order for the Cockeysville area because they said an armed and dangerous suspect was on the loose. Jordan was treated at Sinai Hospital and released Wednesday night.
As the search dragged on into Thursday, nearby schools were closed for the day.
Police received information at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday that Linthicum had returned to the Powers Avenue home, charging documents said. While tactical teams prepared to search the house Thursday, detectives surveilled an area that included Warren Road near woods and walking trails leading to Powers Avenue.
Neighbors said police used nonlethal weapons and pleaded with Linthicum to surrender peacefully outside the residence Thursday while helicopters circled.
At about 9:20 p.m. Thursday, Linthicum used a rifle to shoot Baltimore County Detective Jonathan Chih along Warren Road before stealing his truck and driving into Harford County, charging documents said.
Police used spike strips to disable the truck and Linthicum ran into a wooded area near a Fallston shopping center where he was arrested early Friday after an eight-hour standoff. Authorities recovered a semiautomatic rifle that was not police issued in the Dodge truck, charging documents said.
Harford Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said Friday that deputies tried using “less-lethal” methods to bring Linthicum into custody.
Baltimore County Police declined to answer detailed questions about how Friday’s standoff in Fallston unfolded, including exactly how they decided what level of force to use against Linthicum and whether authorities believe he was armed at that time.
“The Baltimore County Police will not be disclosing certain tactical strategies used to apprehend suspects,” police spokesperson Trae Corbin said Monday.
Police also declined to explain how Linthicum initially escaped from the home Wednesday or how he eluded police until he bailed out of the vehicle in Harford County.
Chih, who was shot multiple times Thursday and fired back at Linthicum, was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and placed on life support. The detective was “recovering and alert” Sunday, a police spokesperson said.
Authorities had no update on Chih’s condition on Monday.
Chih is a narcotics detective for Baltimore County and a Marine Corps veteran, said Dave Sweren, vice president of the county’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4.
“He’s just an all-around decent person doing the job,” Sweren said of Chih, who underwent surgery Friday.
David Linthicum was charged with attempting to kill Chih and Jordan as well as his own father, John “Whit” Linthicum, who owns the Powers Avenue home where police were first called Wednesday.
Both father and son have criminal records stemming from a January 2019 raid of the house by Baltimore County Police detectives. David Linthicum was charged with possession and intent to distribute after police found drugs during the search and received a sentence of two years probation before judgment.
Whit Linthicum admitted to viewing and possessing child pornography, according to police records. He was sentenced to supervised probation for five years and is prohibited from possessing firearms.