# Two Firefighters and a Civilian Shot While Entering Home To Help Citizen **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-firefighters-and-a-civilian-shot-while-entering-home-to-help-citizen/752322 "2016-04-16T02:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-firefighters-and-a-civilian-shot-while-entering-home-to-help-citizen/752322/1 "2016-04-16T02:20:03Z")
It’s really a worst case scenario. Two Prince George’s County, MD firefighters along with a civilian were shot by the resident of a home as they were making a forced entry to check on that resident. The civilian who was shot with the firefighters had called 911 saying they thought the resident of that home needed help. The fire department showed up, knocked on the door and got no answer. The decision was made to force entry, and apparently the homeowner then mistook the firemen for home invaders and opened fire. As soon as they realized their mistake they stopped firing and surrendered to police. Given that one firefighter was taken to Southern Md Hospital (not known as a trauma center) it is likely that firefighter won’t make it - not due to lack of effort by the hospital but just in the years of my experience covering this kind of thing a local transport is almost always futile. > [@](#): > > TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (WUSA9) – Two Prince George’s County firefighters and a civilian were shot Friday night in Temple Hills, county police say. > > One suspect is in custody in connection with the shooting, which left the two firefighters critically injured, according to police and fire officials. > > One firefighter is being treated at Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and the other is being treated at Southern Maryland Hospital Center, according to fire officials. The civilian was shot in the shoulder. > > The suspect turned himself in, police say. > > The firefighters were shot while responding to a welfare check in the 5000 block of Sharon Road in Temple Hills, according to police. > > Sharon Road is closed between Old Branch Avenue to Dalton Street while police investigate the situation. > > Police and fire agencies from other jurisdictions have tweeted out messages of support for the firefighters. [More coverage on the Statter911 Fireblog](http://www.statter911.com/2016/04/15/two-maryland-firefighters-seriously-injured-shooting-incident/) ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-firefighters-and-a-civilian-shot-while-entering-home-to-help-citizen/752322/2 "2016-04-16T03:21:28Z")
Update: sadly as expected one of the firefighters, a 39 year old 13 year veteran, died tonight. The other is in surgery at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma center. Yesterday a Maryland State Trooper was critically injured in a bizarre accident in the county leaving him fighting for his life. And a few weeks ago a Prince George’s County police officer was killed during a strange shootout with a guy who opened fire at a police station while the shooter’s brothers filmed the event. Tough few weeks in PG County. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-firefighters-and-a-civilian-shot-while-entering-home-to-help-citizen/752322/3 "2016-04-16T04:03:03Z")
Don’t the police and/or sheriffs in Prince George County themselves have a long-standing reputation of being bloodthirsty and trigger-happy – and largely immunized by the laws there? ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-firefighters-and-a-civilian-shot-while-entering-home-to-help-citizen/752322/4 "2016-04-16T12:17:48Z")
That I believe is a pretty well earned reputation over the past many years, however the administration, police and State’s attorney(s) have done a very good job in the last 5 years of cleaning up their act and maintaining a transparent government. To the point that most of us news gatherers prefer dealing with PG these days, which is amazing to be sure. Fairfax County VA is a lot more suspect in it’s dealings with the public these days than PG. “Shooting of John Geer” on @Wikipedia: > **[Shooting of John Geer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_John_Geer?wprov=sfsi1)** > > The shooting of John Geer occurred on August 29, 2013, in the Pohick Hills neighborhood of Springfield, Virginia. Geer was killed by Fairfax County Police Department Officer Adam Torres, after a 42-minute standoff. Geer was unarmed with his hands raised above his shoulders, but a holstered gun was reportedly on the floor away from his body, as he was standing inside his Springfield townhouse. Geer's daughters filed a lawsuit that was settled in 2015 for $2.95 million. Torres was charged with s Jo...