MD man shot by UD police pleads guilty to aggravated menacing

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A Maryland man shot last year by a University of Delaware police officer during a reported suicide crisis has pleaded guilty to aggravated menacing.

A Superior Court judge sentenced the 26-year-old man to one year of probation.

The man’s plea allows him to remain in an outpatient mental health treatment, which he has been in since the incident, uninterrupted, a Delaware Department of Justice spokesperson told Delaware Online/The News Journal.

Delaware Online/The News Journal is not publicly identifying the man, as it does not typically identify people charged for all but the most serious crimes. Additionally, because the man was suffering from a mental health crisis, per police, this news organization will not be identifying him.

In exchange for this April 13 plea, which came a little over a week before his trial was scheduled to start, prosecutors dismissed the weapons charge.

The then-24-year-old Dundalk man was in the Newark Regional Transportation Center’s parking lot when he called Delaware 911 operators about 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5, 2025. While on the phone he told operators he had a knife and suicidal intentions, University of Delaware officials said previously.

UD and Newark police officers were dispatched to the parking lot at 110 Station Way, Newark. The parking lot, according to UD, is university property that is leased to the Delaware Administration for Regional Transit (DART) and is patrolled by the school’s police.

A university officer was the first to arrive at the parking lot, according to court documents. Once there, she spotted the man in his vehicle about 4:40 p.m. and parked her fully-marked patrol vehicle behind his.

The officer, who was wearing a body camera, then got out of her vehicle and walked toward the man’s vehicle, according to court records. As she did that, the man got out of his car.

The officer could be heard on her body-cam telling the man to stay in his vehicle, to which court documents state the man “disregarded and proceeded to advance towards” her.

The man was holding a knife when he got out of his car and approached the officer, the university statement said.

The officer “drew her department issued service weapon and pointed at [the man] while giving commands for him to put the knife down while she walked backwards,” the court document stated.

The officer fired her weapon striking the man several times, court documents said.

After the man fell to the ground, the university and court documents say medical aid was provided until he could be taken to an area hospital.

The man has later charged with aggravated menacing and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.

The Delaware Department of Justice, which reviews police-involved shootings, has not issued its use of force investigation on this matter.

Reporting by Esteban Parra, Delaware News Journal / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or [email protected].