Officer Shot in Baltimore while Investigating Murder Dies

Officer Shot in Baltimore while Investigating Murder Dies
Sean Suiter, an 18-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, who has died after he was shot by an unknown suspect on Nov. 15, 2017. (BPD)
Ivan Pentchoukov
11/16/2017
Updated:
11/16/2017

A Baltimore police officer who was shot in the head while investigating a murder on Wednesday has died in the hospital, police say.

Detective Sean Suiter was surrounded by his family at the hospital when he passed away on Thursday, Nov. 16. Suiter, a father of two, served in the police department for 18 years.

“His tragic death will forever impact the BPD,” Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis wrote in an email obtained by The Baltimore Sun. “Each of you go out there and put your lives on the line every single day. The importance of your sacrifice, and Sean’s, can’t be overstated.”

Suiter’s killer is still at large, police say. A massive manhunt is underway with federal agencies assisting the Baltimore City Police Department.

Authorities cordoned off an entire city block and police cadets are going door to door to collect information.

“We need to make sure that we collect every bit of evidence and make sure that the shooter is nowhere nearby,” Davis said Wednesday outside the hospital where Suiter was being treated.

Baltimore police and their federal counterparts are offering a $69,000 reward for information that leads to the capture of the killer. Davis said that the “cold, callous” shooter is still on the run, but not for long.

“With this community, we’re going to identify him, we’re going to arrest him, and we’re going to ensure justice is done,” Davis said.

Suiter was shot in Harlem Park, an area of West Baltimore notorious for its high crime rate. Suiter was investigating a murder in the neighborhood with another officer when the two came across a suspicious man on a vacant lot in the middle of the block.

The officers split up to cover different exits. Suiter approached the person and was shot in the head, a police source told The Baltimore Sun.

An anonymous police source also told Baltimore Sun that Suiter was looking for a witness in a pending murder case.

Police are currently engaged in what they described as a “tactical” operation in the neighborhood where the murder took place. Local investigators are being assisted by The FBI, the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Metro Crime Stoppers.

The shooting took place on the 900 block of Bennet Place at around 4:30 p.m on Wednesday.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Baltimore FBI office at 1-800-CALL-FBI, Baltimore police detectives at 410-396-2100, or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCK-UP. Tips can also be texted to Baltimore police via 443-902-4824.

Suiter is the second police officer to be killed in West Baltimore this month. On Nov. 4, Sgt. Tony Anthony Mason Jr., 40, a District of Columbia police officer, was shot and killed in the 2800 block of Elgin Avenue.

Gov. Larry Hogan wrote on Twitter that the “individual responsible for this heinous crime will be found, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Baltimore Police has our full support as they track down this violent criminal and bring him to justice,” Hogan wrote.

Baltimore has had 308 homicides in 2017 so far, becoming the third consecutive year with more than 300 killings.

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From NTD.tv
Ivan is the national editor of The Epoch Times. He has reported for The Epoch Times on a variety of topics since 2011.
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