BPD: Man shoots himself in head at courthouse

    BALTIMORE (WBAL) -- The North Avenue District Courthouse in Baltimore is closed Friday after a shooting.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said a 35-year-old man entered the Eastside District Court on North Avenue in Baltimore around 8:40 a.m. Friday.

"As he went into the courthouse, he was clearly suffering from behavioral crisis, he was walking back and forth," Worley said. "Sheriff's deputies and the bailiffs tried to interact with him. At some point, he withdrew a firearm from his body, pointed it at his head. The deputies tried to get him to drop his weapon."

Worley said a bailiff, who is a retired BPD member, is preliminarily believed to have fired two shots, striking the man in the lower extremities. The man fired a shot to his head.

Witnesses told 11 News they scrambled to safety as shots rang out inside the courthouse and one bullet went through a glass door.

Witnesses told 11 News that a doctor in the courthouse tried to help the man until paramedics arrived. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The only person shot was the armed man; it was unknown why he was at the courthouse.

The police commissioner explained how the man got into the courthouse's main entrance, but did not get past the security checkpoint.

"What happened is it looked like he went through the second set of double doors; he never reached the security system," Worley said. "It was clear he was suffering from some kind of behavioral crisis by his mannerisms — he walked back and forth a little bit."

"This, of course, is a tragic situation. I want to thank all the law enforcement involved," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "This again shows behavior and mental health is a real and deep issue. We have to make sure that people who are having this kind of issues don't have that easy access to firearms and weapons."

Baltimore City Sheriff Sam Cogen told 11 News that Maryland lawmakers are considering House Bill 789, which calls for establishing minimum adequate security standards at all courthouses across the state.

"I think this highlights the importance of court security, that we take the importance of this incident when it comes to protecting our courts and making sure we can have justice for everyone and people can feel safe at our courthouses," Cogen told 11 News.

Security cameras captured video of the incident, which the attorney general's office is reviewing as part of its investigation.

North Avenue and Harford Road were closed amid the investigation.