Baltimoron Applies for Darwin Award

Attempt to rob off duty officer using toy gun results in terminal failure

. . . The tale takes place yesterday when an as yet unnamed police officer was returning home after his shift and met with an unpleasant encounter. 32-year-old Edel Moreland, a man who had already amassed a criminal record including assault and drug charges, confronted the officer and “announced a robbery.” Sadly, he was using a very realistic looking toy revolver. The officer was carrying a weapon which was decidedly not a toy and things quickly took a turn for the worse for Moreland. (Fox News)

An off-duty Baltimore cop shot and killed an armed robbery suspect who police say tried to rob the officer with what turned out to be a toy gun.
The shooting Saturday at 1:30 a.m. on a block of homes decorated with Christmas lights in the Baltimore suburb of Linthicum Heights was being investigated by Anne Arundel County Police, Fox 45 reported. Police said, according to the the station, that the officer fired in self-defense. They identified the robbery suspect as 32-year-old Edel Moreland.
“We feel very bad for the Moreland family to deal with the loss of a son especially around the holidays,” Anne Arundel Police Lt. Ryan Frashure told the station. “I’m sorry, our condolences to the family. Our condolences to the Baltimore city officer. It’s a very unfortunate incident to be placed into.”

Sadly, since this is Baltimore we’re talking about, this could still turn into a problem. The cop was off duty and not pursuing any bad guys and the robber clearly placed him in a position where he was in fear of his life, but I won’t be terribly shocked if some Social Justice Warriors set up a march protesting this anyway. But then, perhaps they’d be willing to listen to the officer’s neighbor.