Police release body camera footage of fatal shooting in West Baltimore

The Baltimore Police Department released body camera footage of the officers who fatally shot Robert Phillip Nedd Jr., 54, after he fled the scene of a car crash in Upton earlier this month .

Nedd is the third person shot by Baltimore police officers in 2024.

Nedd was driving the wrong way on Argyle Avenue on Oct. 9 when he crashed into a parked car, according to police. This scene is captured on body camera footage of Sgt. Thomas Gross, a 10-year veteran of the Baltimore police force, who approaches Nedd as he gets out of the car. For a moment, Nedd follows Gross’ instructions to sit on the sidewalk.

“I just want you to relax,” Gross is heard saying as Nedd sits down. As Gross calls for more help, Nedd starts running.

In the footage, Nedd is seen running away into a wooded area near the 1600 block of Argyle Avenue.

Gross follows Nedd as other officers run to his aid. Body camera footage shows Nedd being held by a hole in a chain link fence.

An officer can be heard yelling, “Let me see your hands, or they’ll shoot you.”

Nedd raises his left hand, but in his right hand is an object that the police say is a gun. Three officers, standing in front and behind Nedd, open fire, killing him. In total, the police fired 19 shots.

Police recovered a gun from the scene, which can be seen lying scattered among other debris in the footage. There were 15 rounds in the gun, although Commissioner Richard Worley said they do not believe Nedd fired the gun during the incident.

Court records show Nedd was released from prison earlier this year after serving time for a firearms offense. He had no right to legally own a firearm.

Nedd is the third person shot and killed by BPD in 2024. There were two in 2023. All of the 2024 incidents involved citizens who had firearms, only one involved an exchange of gunfire.

BPD officers are only required to engage in foot pursuits when the officer has reason to “believe that the suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime,” according to BPD policies.

In a 2016 investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, the US Department of Justice found that officers “often engage in foot pursuits of individuals, even when the fleeing individuals are not suspected of violent crimes.” Foot chases, they wrote, are dangerous to officers and members of the community, “frequently leading officers to use excessive force to flee from suspects who pose a minimal threat.”

On Monday, Worley said Nedd was not suspected of a crime at the time of the chase, but still defended the officers’ decision to pursue on foot.

“He wasn’t suspected of anything other than being in a car accident. But when someone runs from the police, that usually means they don’t want to talk to the police, and as we found out, he was banned from having a weapon fire and he had one on his person,” Worley told reporters.

Worley said the officers also had a responsibility to look out for Nedd’s safety after the car crash.

“We have to make sure, physically, that he is fine, and then he goes out for a run. We don’t know why he runs. He could have been injured…we are also chasing to see why he ran for his safety,” the commissioner said.

The Maryland Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation. In addition to Gross, the other officers involved are identified as Officer Tyler Douglas, a two-year veteran, and Officer James Klein, a one-year veteran.

They are on administrative leave while the investigation is underway.

WYPR is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner. Read the original story at WYPR.org.