Man arrested on gun charges; police say he tried to escape in underground waterway

Clara Niel, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Dec. 13—A Gaithersburg man arrested Friday is accused of firing a gun along the Golden Mile, then fleeing through a 700-yard-long underground waterway, police say.

Gervon William Norris, 29, was charged with multiple firearms counts, including illegal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and having a handgun on their person, online court records show.

There was no attorney listed for Norris as of Monday morning, court records show.

At around 2:16 p.m. on Friday, the Frederick Police Department received several calls for a disturbance and sounds of gunshots in the area of Key Parkway and Willowdale Drive, according to a news release from the agency.

At the scene, officers could not immediately locate who might have been involved in the incident, the release said.

While searching the area and doing interviews, the release said, police found a person with a matching clothing description in an outside common area of a nearby apartment complex.

As police spoke with the person, later identified as Norris, and checked the surrounding area, officers found a loaded handgun hidden underneath a children's toy, the release said. Once police found the gun, Norris fled on foot.

Norris ran to the area of McCain Drive and entered an underground water culvert, the release said. The culvert travels underground from McCain Drive to an area south of U.S. 40, near the alternate U.S. 40 split.

Officers positioned themselves on each end of the culvert, the release said. With the help of a Frederick County Sheriff's Office K-9 team, police entered the culvert and searched for the man.

As police were searching in the culvert, Norris exited the opposite end of the culvert and was arrested, the release said. Sgt. Jonathan Shatlock said in an interview that Norris was in the culvert for about 45 minutes.

Norris had a New Jersey ID, but police determined the ID and the name on it were fake, the release said. Once officers figured out who Norris was, they discovered he had an active arrest warrant in Anne Arundel County, police said.

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