www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-md.co.shooting19jan19,0,4741985.story
baltimoresun.com
Knife-wielding man Tasered, shot
By Gina Davis and Arin Gencer
Sun reporters
January 19, 2008
Two Baltimore County police officers shot a knife-wielding man - one with a handgun and the other with a Taser - after they were called yesterday to a Dundalk house to investigate a quarrel between the man and two women, police said.
David Abrams, 28, was shot after he refused to drop a knife and lunged at the officers at the home he shared with his mother and godmother in the 8100 block of Dundalk Ave., spokesman Bill Toohey said. The incident occurred about 2:20 p.m.
Toohey said he believed it was the first time that county police had shot and Tasered a person in the same incident.
Abrams was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he underwent surgery late yesterday.
Police said he had been arguing with the two women, stabbing his godmother, Carmen Julia Lebron, 63, on the chin. She was taken to Bayview for treatment.
Lebron and the suspect's mother, Lynn Abrams, 54, ran from the house to a neighbor's, Toohey said.
The neighbor, Robin Rohlfing, said she was in her dining room when she heard "a blood-curdling scream."
"'Please help me! he's trying to kill me!'" Rohlfing recalled Lynn Abrams saying. A few minutes later, Lebron, bleeding from her mouth and ear, also ran from the house screaming "He's going to kill me!"
When police arrived, Rohlfing said, they banged on the front door and identified themselves. Soon after they entered the house, she said, she heard one gunshot.
Rohlfing, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 40 years, said the mother and son had lived in their house for a couple of years and were "great neighbors."
Toohey could not say whether David Abrams' injuries were life-threatening.
gina.davis@baltimoresun.com arin.gencer@baltimoresun.com
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
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Baltimore County
Man is recovering after police shooting
A Dundalk man wounded by police Friday afternoon was listed in good condition yesterday as Baltimore County police continued their investigation into the shooting of the knife-wielding man.
Two police officers shot and Tasered David Abrams, 28, Friday after he refused to drop his weapon and lunged at the officers, police said.
Police had been called to a home in the 8100 block of Dundalk Ave. to investigate a dispute between the man and two women, police said. County police spokesman Bill Toohey said yesterday that the quarrel was over family finances.
[Matthew Dolan
This article is hard for me to read between my tears. It only seems like yesterday that I held David in my arms on that spring day in 1979. He was only 1 week old, and I could hardly contain my joy at seeing him for the first time. I saw this boy grow into a beautiful, sweet, and inquisitive child who loved to tell jokes and do silly things to make people laugh. As a young man, David was very responsible and studious. He loved math and science and dreamed of one day completing college and becoming an engineer. Although he had many friends, he studied hard and avoided the party scene. He eventually realized his dream when he graduated from Maryland with a degree in electrical engineering. He worked for 2 years as an engineer, but then, like a bolt out of the blue, he began to struggle with a mental illness. This illness robbed him of his dreams and his happiness. His family tried to get him the help he needed, but unlike less stigmatized illnesses such as cancer or heart disease, it is hard to find affordable treatment or support for people with a mental illness. On the day before his encounter with the police, David actually called the police for help. He was delusional and frightened. His family begged the police to help them get him to a hospital. But the police said they could not help unless he agreed to go or acted out. David walked away from his home that day frightened and alone, not knowing where to go or what to do. The help he desperately needed was beyond his grasp. After he returned home desperate and fearful, everything quickly spiraled out of control and his whole world fell apart. Now, when I see him in his hospital room, it breaks my heart. There he lays in his bed, a bullet pressing against his spine. I wonder if he will ever walk again. How will he feel about all this once his mind is clear, and he realizes the gravity of what has happened? Many people here in Dundalk and in Baltimore may know him because of what they have seen or heard in the news. However, I know him very well. Afterall, I am his aunt, and I will never forget that underneath this illness lies the kind, gentle and good-natured nephew I have always known and loved. I would also like to clarify that there was an altecation but it did not involve a stabbing. My family and I are very upset by all the misinformation circulated by the media. There is another side to this story that no one is hearing. David has no voice! Where is justice for David?
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