In a recent development from Howard County, Attorney General Anthony Brown announced there will be no charges against Officer Michael McKee in a fatal shooting that took place in June of last year. As reported by WBALTV, the officer was responding to a 911 call on June 9 about a stabbing in the 9200 block of Wilbur Court in Columbia, during which 23-year-old Micah Booker reported he had just killed his brother and was at a bus stop armed with a spear, knife, and pepper spray, begging officers to come and kill him.
As stated by the Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division (IID) and echoed by both aforementioned sources, Officer McKee encountered Booker at approximately 7:29 p.m. near Oakland Mills Road and Carters Lane, where he issued multiple verbal commands to drop the weapon, commands which Booker failed to comply with. He charged toward the officer while armed with the spear. This led to McKee discharging his service weapon twice, striking Booker, who was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services attempted aid.
The Fox Baltimore article notes that the subsequent investigation by the IID, which concluded on January 2, found that the officer's actions were legally justified under Maryland law due to the perceived immediate threat of serious harm or death. The Attorney General's office supported this finding by stating, "Officer McKee had the subjective belief that he was in immediate or imminent danger of serious harm or death and that belief was objectively reasonable," and that the force used was not excessive.
While a motive for the initial stabbing that set off the tragic event has not been determined, WBALTV shared that witnesses corroborated the event details, confirming Booker's charge at McKee with the spear after disobeying police instructions. The Chief Medical Examiner’s autopsy revealed Booker's cause of death as two gunshot wounds to the head and labeled it a homicide. Despite the outcome, the Howard County Police Department continues to investigate the circumstances leading up to the confrontation.
