A man was left in critical but stable condition after being shot Friday night on Hope Circle in Frederick, Maryland, and someone had already driven him to a hospital before officers ever reached the scene. Frederick Police officers responded to the shooting in the 100 block of Hope Circle around 9:20 p.m., according to the Frederick Police Department.
Victim Found at Hospital, Investigators Comb for Video
Investigators say the man was taken from the scene in a vehicle before officers arrived, and police later located him at a hospital, as reported by WBFF. His identity has not been released, and it remains unclear who drove him away from the scene or what became of that vehicle. The Frederick Police Department has opened case number 2026-061167 for the investigation, with Detective Nicole Smith assigned as the primary investigator under release author Lt. Jon Holler and Public Information Officer Allen Etzler, according to the City of Frederick.
Now detectives are asking residents and businesses near Hope Circle, Pennsylvania Avenue and Hamilton Station to check their security footage from 9:10 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday, the window surrounding the shooting. Video can be submitted directly through the department's Axon Community Request portal, a digital pipeline that transmits public uploads straight into secure cloud storage without the need for physical drives, preserving chain-of-custody for any footage that ends up in court. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Smith at 240-549-4562, while anonymous tips can be submitted at 301-600-TIPS (8477).
A Recent Shooting on Pennsylvania Avenue
Hope Circle is the street where Friday's shooting occurred. On August 9, Frederick police investigated a shooting on the 100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in which an adult woman and a juvenile male suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, a case Hoodline covered in Frederick Shooting Injures Two Near Pennsylvania Avenue.
That August case led to an arrest days later. On August 18, detectives executed a search warrant on Hamilton Avenue and arrested Jacoby Oljuwon Sampson Jr. in connection with the Pennsylvania Avenue shooting, charging him with first-degree assault, handgun violations, and reckless endangerment, per 930 WFMD. Investigators reported that Sampson had engaged in a firearm exchange during that earlier incident. Whether investigators suspect any connection between that case and Friday's shooting on Hope Circle has not been addressed.
East End Violence Comes Amid New Police Leadership
The Hope Circle shooting also lands just days after Frederick Police reported a death investigation on the unit block of Franklin Street near the Great Frederick Fairgrounds on September 20, then announced a murder charge in the case on September 21. Anonymous tips in that case, as in others, can be routed through Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland, which offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Both incidents fall under the leadership of Chief Kevin Meyer, an 18-year veteran of the department whom Mayor Michael O'Connor officially appointed as Frederick's Chief of Police on August 19 following a nationwide search, after Meyer had served as interim chief since December 2025. Separately, the department has scheduled an Administrative Hearing Board for September 30, allowing officers to contest internal investigative findings publicly under Maryland's Public Safety Article, according to the City of Frederick.
No further details on the Hope Circle victim's identity or long-term condition have been released. Police continue to ask anyone with relevant footage or information to come forward as the investigation continues.
