Attorney General Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting in Frederick County Under Investigation

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BALTIMORE, MD (November 29, 2022) – The Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred in Frederick, Maryland, on Tuesday morning.

On November 29, at approximately 2:10 a.m., deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the 5800 block of Haller Place after receiving a 911 call for an adult male attacking and stabbing his mother and father. Once on scene, deputies located the mother and father suffering from stab wounds and began providing medical aid. Additional sheriff’s deputies, officers with the Frederick City Police Department, and Maryland State Police Troopers responded to the area and located the suspect in the 5800 block of Zoe Lane. Officers began speaking with the man and gave him commands to “drop the knife.” One officer deployed a less-lethal beanbag shotgun round at the suspect. The suspect then rapidly moved toward officers. At that point, multiple officers deployed their taser and three deputies discharged their firearms, striking the man. Officers rendered aid, and the man was later pronounced dead on scene. A knife was recovered near the suspect at the shooting scene. The mother and father were taken to area hospitals. The father was later pronounced dead. No officers were injured.

The Independent Investigations Division will generally release the name of the decedent and discharging officers within 48 hours of the incident, though that period may be extended if there is a specific reason to believe that an officer’s safety is at risk.

The deputies who discharged their firearms were not equipped with body-worn cameras. Other officers on the scene were wearing body-worn cameras, which recorded portions of the incident. The Independent Investigations Division will generally release body camera footage within 14 days of an incident. There may be situations where more than 14 days is necessary, including if investigators need more time to complete witness interviews, if there are technical delays caused by the need to shield the identities of civilian witnesses, or to allow family members to view the video before it is released to the public.
 

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Decedent and Sheriff’s Deputies Identified in Fatal Police Shooting in Frederick

BALTIMORE, MD (December 1, 2022) –
The Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General has identified the decedent and involved sheriff’s deputies in the fatal shooting that occurred on November 29 in Frederick County.

The decedent has been identified as 23-year-old Aaron Mensah, of Frederick, Maryland.

The involved Frederick County Sheriff’s deputies have been identified as Deputy First Class Cassy Boettcher, Deputy Travis Stely, and Deputy Nathan McLeroy. Deputy Boettcher has been with the agency for two-and-a-half years, Deputy McLeroy has been with the agency since July and has a total of 3 years of law-enforcement experience, and Deputy Stely has been with the agency since September and has total of 6 years of law-enforcement experience. The deputies are assigned to the patrol operations section.

The Independent Investigations Division continues to investigate the circumstances of the fatal shooting. To read the original news release, click here.
 

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Body-Worn Camera Footage from November’s Fatal Police-Involved Shooting in Frederick Released

BALTIMORE, MD (December 19, 2022) –
The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General today released the body-worn camera footagefrom the fatal police-involved shooting that occurred on November 29, 2022, in Frederick, Maryland. The decedent was previously identified as 23-year-old Aaron Mensah, of Frederick, Maryland.

The IID will generally release body-worn camera and dashboard camera footage within 14 days of an incident. The release of the body-worn camera footage in this incident was delayed to allow investigators to conduct witness interviews.

The Independent Investigations Division continues to investigate the circumstances of the fatal shooting. To read the original news release, click here.
 

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Investigative Reports Released for November 2022 Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting in Frederick

BALTIMORE, MD (May 3, 2023)
– The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General today released its interim and supplemental investigative reports of the November 29, 2022, fatal officer-involved shooting in Frederick County.

On November 29, at approximately 2:10 a.m., deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the 5800 block of Haller Place after receiving a 911 call for a male, later identified as Aaron Mensah, attacking, and stabbing his mother and father. Once on scene, deputies located the mother and father suffering from stab wounds and began providing medical aid. Additional deputies, officers with the Frederick City Police Department, and Maryland State Police Troopers responded to the area and located Mr. Mensah in the 5800 block of Zoe Lane. A review of body-worn camera footage shows officers began speaking with Mr. Mensah and gave him commands to “drop the knife.” One officer deployed a less-lethal beanbag shotgun round at Mensah. Mr. Mensah then rapidly moved toward officers. At that point, multiple officers deployed their Tasers and Deputies Cassy Boettcher, Travis Stely, and Nathan McLeroy discharged their firearms, striking Mensah. Officers rendered medical aid to Mr. Mensah. He was later pronounced dead on scene. A knife was recovered near Mensah at the shooting scene. The mother and father were taken to area hospitals where the father was later pronounced dead. No officers were injured.

The IID and the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office agreed that an interim report would be useful because all aspects of the investigation were final other than the autopsy reports and ballistic analysis. The IID forwarded its interim investigative report to the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office on March 20, 2023. The Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office notified the IID on April 17 of its decision not to prosecute the case. A supplemental report providing the results of the autopsies and ballistic analysis, was completed and concluded the IID’s investigation on April 27.

The IID’s interim report contains detailed investigative findings and an analysis of relevant legal issues. The IID’s report does not make any recommendations as to whether any individual should or should not be charged because the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office—not the IID—retains prosecution authority in this case. By law, the IID’s reports must remain confidential until any related prosecution is completed or the State’s Attorney’s Office declines to prosecute. A copy of the IID’s interim and supplemental investigative reports can be found here.
 
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