Suspected drug dealer shot by Prince George’s police dies

LANDOVER — A police officer in a Maryland suburb of Washington fatally shot amanwhenhe grabbed a gun during a struggle, police said Friday.

Amember of the community told police about a man who was known to be armed and selling drugs in the Landover area and “terrorizing” people as part of a loose group robbing people, Prince George’s CountyPolice ChiefHankStawinski said at a late-night news conference Thursday.

Members of the department’s emergency services team and narcotics enforcement division worked together on the operation Thursday night and believed the manwas “conducting illegal activity” inthe area.

Officers spotted amanwhomatched the suspect’s description and approached 40year-old Gregory Campfield Jr., of Landover, police said in a release Friday. Campfield ignored commands to stop and show his hands, and instead fled, police said.

An officer tackled Campfield and warned fellow officers after seeing Campfield had a gun. A second officer witnessed the struggle and saw that the Campfield was holding the gun, authorities said. That’s when police said the struggling officer shot Campfield and then provided medical aid.

Campfield was taken to a hospital, where he died several hours later. A phone number listed for Campfield wasn’t in service.

No officerswere injured.

A gun, drugs and cashwere found at the scene, Stawinski said. Police latertweeted a photo of the gun in a grassy area surrounded by yellowcrime-scene tape.

The officer who shot Campfield is on routine administrative leave. Police haven’t yet released his name or race or Campfield’s race.

This is the second fatal police shooting involving Prince George’s police this month. OnAug. 1, police said an officer shot and killed an armed man as he fled a liquor store where he had just fatally shot a man. Authorities said the man didn’t comply with the officer’s order to drop a gun.