‘Physical and emotional wreckage’
Family of man shot, killed by Harford County deputies says he had ‘unmanageable’ pain
John Raymond Fauver was installing a railing last Friday on the top floor of his Whiteford home that he planned to turn into a “princess closet” for his wife, Jennifer.
The couple bought the house in 2016, two years before they married. Since he was unable to work due to chronic pain in his knees from years of being a communications lineman, his wife said, renovation of the home in northern Harford County became Fauver’s main pastime.
“He had chronic pain issues that led to pain management,” Jennifer said, “which led to opiate use, which led to addiction, which led to a tremendous amount of physical and emotional wreckage.”
Jennifer, who asked that her last name not be used, noticed her husband was agitated Friday “over really nothing.” He’d long suffered from depression and sought treatment for it, she said. However, when she and his sister approached him Saturday about possibly seeking mental health care at Sheppard Pratt, he didn’t seem to hear what they were saying, she said.
“He was completely down the rabbit hole of depression and pain,” she said.
He stormed out of the house around
2:30 p.m. Saturday, she said, threatening suicide, so she called the police.
Harford County sheriff ’s deputies were dispatched at 2:44 p.m. to deal with a “reportedly suicidal subject,” according to a statement released by Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler. Fauver was located by deputies behind the Forest Hill CVS drugstore in the Bel Air North Village shopping center.
What happened next hasn’t been disclosed, but it ended when two deputies fatally shot Fauver around 4 p.m. Saturday. He later died in a hospital.
The fatal shooting sparked a dispute over evidence and access to the scene between the Harford County Sheriff ’s Office and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which is charged by a 2021 state law with conducting independent investigations of police-related fatalities. While Gahler said his office must conduct its own criminal investigation of the incident, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh sued the Republican sheriff for “interfering” with the state’s investigation.
Frosh, a Democrat, filed for a temporary restraining order in Harford County Circuit Court, asking for a judgment clarifying that his office “is to have custody of all original evidence in a police-involved civilian death.” An emergency hearing for the case has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Jennifer, who talked about her husband’s death Monday in an interview at the couple’s home, knows there’s been an issue between the state and local law enforcement regarding the investigation, but she said she doesn’t care, nor want to know.
“Getting information has been impossible,” she said. “It’s been very difficult for me.”
A local detective, who came to the house Saturday evening, later told her that her husband had died. Jennifer said she didn’t learn details about her husband’s death until “well after the fact,” saying she found out from the news media. She also didn’t know that he’d died at a hospital rather than at the scene.
“I would have liked to know that,” said Jennifer, who was joined for the interview by her mother and Fauver’s sister.
In a text message sent to friends, community members and colleagues of hers, Jennifer wrote: “John committed suicide by police officer. My heart is broken for the officers involved. My heart is broken for John.”
Fauver was believed to have had a long gun at the time of the shooting, according to the sheriff ’s office. His wife said she did not know whether he had one Saturday afternoon. She said they had bought a shotgun around the beginning of the pandemic and would sometimes go target shooting with friends, but that he kept the gun in a locked portion of his truck.
“John was not a gun person,” said Judy Smith, Fauver’s mother-in-law. “He never hunted. I don’t think he would have had the capability of killing an animal. He hated it when animals were hurt. And for entertainment, he sat and watched videos about kittens and puppies.”
“For real,” Jennifer agreed, noting that her daughter referred to her husband as a “teddy bear with tattoos.” Jennifer also said he was “amazingly intelligent” and a “problem solver.”
Fauver’s sister, Sharon Fauver, said her brother had the “biggest smile” and “the biggest heart.”
“My heart breaks, but I loved him,” Sharon Fauver said.
Jennifer said that while her husband had not used opiates in the past two years, he
recently tried to use medical marijuana, but that it wasn’t enough for his “unmanageable” pain or his mental illness. “His loneliness was profound. His isolation was profound,” she said. “And I was powerless over that.”
His opiate use made it difficult for him to heal from joint infections he had after a double bilateral knee replacement in July 2019, she said. He had six follow-up surgeries between then and the following spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Jennifer said Fauver couldn’t really walk, and became less able over time to continue their home renovation. “He really wanted to finish the house, but he couldn’t,” she said. “It did not blow up all at once. It was a gradual buildup. There were times where he would just look at me and he would just be so, so incredibly sad, and just say, ‘I’ve only ever wanted a simple life. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.’ ”
Jennifer wrote in her text message to her loved ones that traditional services will not be held for her husband — the house renovations will be finished, and a housewarming party will be held in his memory.
“John did not want this,” Jennifer said. “But once you get down a rabbit hole to a certain point, getting out is really, really hard.”
Jennifer said she didn’t learn details about her husband’s death until “well after the fact,” saying she found out from the news media.