A 46-year-old Rockville man who told officers “everybody that stay around me is dead” before raising a loaded handgun toward them was fatally shot by six Maryland officers at a Gaithersburg bus stop in July, and the state's Attorney General has now announced none of them will face criminal charges. The decision closes out a two-month investigation into the death of Elliott Powers, whose final minutes were captured on body-worn camera footage showing him goading officers to kill him during a tense standoff outside Montgomery Village Plaza.
According to DailyVoice.com, the confrontation began when a 911 caller reported a man loading a gun at a bus stop in the 9600 block of Lost Knife Road at 6:47 p.m. on July 12. Dispatchers broadcast a physical description to officers within about a minute of the call, according to the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, and officers from both the Gaithersburg and Montgomery County police departments began arriving on scene roughly 12 minutes later.
Sgt. Christopher Leach of the Gaithersburg department, and another officer approached Powers as he sat on a bench, the report states. Powers told them, “I ain't dropping s--t,” and pulled a 9mm handgun from a backpack before racking the slide to chamber a live round, an action captured on an officer's body-worn camera. Leach requested a negotiator as police formed a semicircle around the bus stop and began ordering Powers to drop the weapon.
Roughly Twelve Minutes of Failed De-Escalation
Over the roughly 12-minute standoff that followed, officers discussed less-lethal options. Two officers can be heard discussing whether they could take Powers into custody without using deadly force at all.
Bodycam audio also captured Powers making statements suggesting suicidal intent. When officers told him they did not want to hurt him, he replied, “Hurt me.” When they told him they did not want to kill him, he said, “I want you to. That's why I'm here,” according to Montgomery Community Media. He also told police they were going to have to kill him and warned, “Everybody that stay around me is dead…everybody that stay around me gets a funeral.”
As officers began moving toward the shopping center parking lot to help evacuate bystanders, Powers raised his handgun toward an officer who was evacuating the area. That is when the six officers opened fire. Powers was struck multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene; officers issued commands to hold fire and rendered emergency medical care until Montgomery County Fire Rescue personnel arrived, according to the City of Gaithersburg. No officers were injured.
Evidence Recovered at the Scene
Maryland State Police crime scene technicians recovered 25 spent casings from the scene, including 8 from 9mm handguns and 17 from .223-caliber rifles. Police also recovered Powers' Sig Sauer P320, which contained seven live rounds in the magazine and one live round in the chamber, per the report from the state's investigators.
The six officers involved were identified as Montgomery County Police Officers Michael Wengloski, Andrew Hanko, and Robert Bullock, along with Gaithersburg Police Officers Noah Whelan, Carissa Fortin, and Sgt. Leach, according to the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland.
Independent Review Under State Law
The investigation was carried out by the Independent Investigations Division within the Attorney General's Office. The review focused on the circumstances of the shooting.
Investigators considered whether the officers had violated Maryland's use-of-force law or could face homicide charges, ultimately concluding there was insufficient evidence to prove the officers used unnecessary force. The report found the officers were not the aggressors and that Powers presented an imminent threat of death or serious injury when he pointed the gun, concluding the evidence supported a defense-of-others justification. The Attorney General's office declined to charge any of the six officers with a homicide offense.
Authorities publicly released body-worn-camera footage on August 7, according to Montgomery Community Media.
A Corridor With a History of Violence
The shooting unfolded on the 9600 block of Lost Knife Road, according to The MoCo Show. It was not the corridor's first high-stakes police encounter — in March, 27-year-old Andre Duvall was arrested and charged with attempted murder after firing at pursuing Montgomery County officers during a foot chase, per MDBayNews.
The shooting has also stirred friction among residents. A public safety community meeting hosted by County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke at South Lake Elementary School on August 27 turned confrontational after community members and Racial Justice NOW! activists criticized local leaders for omitting Powers' name from official presentations, according to Montgomery Community Media. The meeting had been scheduled as a public safety community meeting. It remains an open question how city and county officials will address that community mistrust as scrutiny of public safety along the Lost Knife Road corridor continues.
