Police charge David Linthicum with attempted murder after shooting of two officers and search from Cockeysville to Fallston

The Cockeysville man who authorities say led police on a dayslong pursuit across two counties and twice shot police officers, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, according to court documents.

David Emory Linthicum, 24, is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault, carjacking, stealing a car, use of a firearm in a violent crime and possession of a loaded handgun in Baltimore County, according to court documents.

Baltimore County Police confirmed he was in their custody Friday afternoon. Linthicum is being held without bond and is scheduled for a bail review hearing Monday at 1 p.m.

Linthicum was arrested in Fallston around dawn Friday, nearly two days after police responded shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday for a call about a person who was suicidal at a residence on Powers Avenue in Cockeysville.

A responding officer, identified in court documents as “Officer Jordan,” met Linthicum’s father who said his son was in his basement bedroom and that he was suicidal, according to court documents.

The officer and John Linthicum went to David’s bedroom and saw him laying on his bed, holding a high-powered rifle, according to charging documents.

David Linthicum then fired about 15 rounds toward Jordan and his father, prompting the two men to flee the home, court records show. Jordan realized he had been shot after he left the home, and was taken to Sinai Hospital for treatment, court documents say. Jordan was released that evening.

David Linthicum escaped the home after the shooting, launching a search for him and a shelter-in-place warning for residents.

The search stretched into the following day, when around 9:30 p.m. police say Linthicum shot a detective and stole his Dodge truck in the area of Warren Road between Bosley and Poplar Hill roads, court documents show.

Baltimore County Police said the detective, identified in court papers as “Det. J. Chih,” was patrolling the area looking for Linthicum. When he tried to engage Linthicum, police said, Linthicum “produced a rifle and began shooting at the detective, striking him multiple times.”

Chih had a body-worn camera, and the footage shows Chih approach Linthicum who then fired numerous shots at Chih, court documents said. Chih tried to retreat, and shot back with his service weapon, according to the charging papers.

Shot multiple times in the chest, Chih was taken to Shock Trauma and placed on life support. His condition has stabilized, police said Friday.

Police chased the Linthicum in the truck to Fallston where he was stopped with spike strips laid in the road. Linthicum got out and ran into the woods behind a shopping center.

After an 8-hour standoff with police surrounding him in the woods, Linthicum was taken into custody early Friday morning.

Officials praised Baltimore County Police and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office for their efforts to “successfully apprehend” Linthicum, and reached out with well wishes for the hospitalized detective. The officer injured Wednesday was treated and released.

“Our unwavering gratitude and heartfelt prayers remain with our officers injured in the line of duty, and with all their families and loved ones,” Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said on Twitter. “I also again thank all our residents for their continued patience, support and cooperation amid this trying and troubling incident.”

Numerous questions remain about the series of events that culminated early Friday with Linthicum’s arrest. Here’s what we know so far:

Who is David Linthicum?

William Cockey attended the tiny Jemicy School in Owings Mills from eighth to 12th grade with Linthicum. They both graduated in 2017 in a class of no more than 20 students.

In the small school, there wasn’t room for cliques, Cockey remembered, and he said for the most part, students got along. That included Linthicum, who wasn’t a class clown, nor an outcast; he generally got along with everyone, Cockey said.

When Cockey saw news about Linthicum on Wednesday night, he questioned if it was real.

”I never expected this,” he said.

Jenny Welsh considered John Linthicum, David’s father, to be an “average Joe” when he first moved into their neighborhood over a decade ago with his two sons, David and Martin. But when police raided the Linthicums’ home and arrested and charged John Linthicum in 2019, she stopped talking to him.

”You don’t know what type of environment those boys grew up in,” she said. “It’s disturbing, it’s alarming, and very sad at the same time.”

Welsh and her husband, Robert, spent Thursday evening looking out their window across the street as police tried to coerce David Linthicum out of that same home. For hours, she heard the loud noises of authorities using non-lethal weapons and pleading with him to come out of the house.

”'David, come out through the garage and show your hands,’” she remembered them saying. “‘We’re not going to hurt you. Let’s end this peacefully.’”

It marks the third time in the past 15 years that the same house has seen significant police activity. In 2008, Nicholas Browning shot and killed four members of his family in the home.

”The house is just, it’s like ‘The Amityville Horror,’” Welsh said.

What do we know about his criminal history?

Both David Linthicum and his father, John, were arrested in 2019, and both were given limits on their ability to possess firearms in the future.

Baltimore County detectives went to their Powers Avenue home in January 2019 to serve a search warrant after getting information that John Linthicum, 57, was in possession of child pornography, police records show. Detectives searched the home and interviewed both Linthicums, and John Linthicum admitted to viewing and possessing the child pornography, police records show.

Authorities also found drugs in the home, and charged David Linthicum with possession with intent to distribute, court records show.

Brian Thompson, the attorney who represented both men, said David Linthicum’s case was a “garden variety” drug case that didn’t stick out in his memory and that he wouldn’t be representing him in any criminal charges for this week’s incident.

“It’s probably better for him to be represented by a public defender,” Thompson said.

Both men pleaded guilty later in 2019 and received probation. John Linthicum was given supervised probation for five years and is prohibited from possessing any firearms. David Linthicum was given a probation before judgment sentence of two years on the possession with intent to distribute charge.

While probation prohibits the possession of firearms, because David Linthicum received a probation before judgment there is a possibility he was able to legally possess guns after serving his sentence.

However, because of John Linthicum’s probation terms, there is a gray area as to whether a firearm could be kept legally in the home, said defense attorney Andrew I. Alperstein, who is also a former prosecutor and CNN legal analyst.

Legally, John Linthicum would be prohibited from having “dominion and control” over a firearm in his home, meaning if he knew where the firearm was and had access to it, that would be a violation of his probation.

”If, for example, the son had a firearm in his room the father wasn’t aware of and the facts supported that, then that might not be a violation of the law for the father,” Alperstein said. “On the other hand, if the gun was hanging out in the unlocked gun case in the living room, that could be a problem for the father.”

Police have released limited information about the weapons recovered after David Linthicum’s arrest Friday, and charges are still pending. Authorities did recover a rifle and handgun from the Baltimore County detective’s stolen pickup truck.

How are the injured officers?

Police have said their investigation is ongoing, but offered up a few details about the two Baltimore County Police officers wounded in the span of 36 hours.

Neither have been identified by the department, but their partial names were included in the charging documents against Linthicum.

The first, Officer Jordan, was treated and released for an injury after being shot at Wednesday afternoon. The officer was struck by a bullet during the init, according to the court documents released Friday.

The other, Detective J. Chih, was wounded by gunfire Thursday evening on Warren Road, down the hill from Linthicum’s home, and hospitalized at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

The charging documents said Chih attempted to engage Linthicum who produced a rifle and shot him multiple times, including in the chest. Chih returned fire with his service weapon.

Baltimore County’s interim police Chief Dennis Delp said the detective was wearing a ballistics vest at the time of his encounter with Linthicum. He called their interaction “very quick.”

Dr. Thomas Scalea, Shock Trauma’s chief physician, told reporters early Friday morning that the detective suffered “multiple” gunshot wounds to his “torso and extremities.” Doctors stabilized him, but he was on life support. Scalea said he was going to require a “significant amount of reconstruction.”

“We are putting our plan together now,” Scalea said. “He’ll be with us for a while.”

The detective’s family were with him Thursday night at the hospital, Delp said.

Officials asked for prayers: “I ask that not just all of Baltimore County, but anyone in earshot of my voice, to lift up the officer in your prayers, surround him and his family,” Olszewski said. “This is indeed a very difficult profession.”