Video shows police fatally shooting man with autism
Video shows police fatally shooting man with autism
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Kate Perez and James Powel, USA TODAYTue, March 31, 2026 at 6:39 PM UTC
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Officials in Maryland released body camera footage that showed police fatally shooting a man who had autism after he slowly walked toward them with a knife.
Alexander LaMorie, who was described by mother Jill Harrington to USA TODAY as being formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at 13, had just moved into Patuxent Commons, an apartment complex that provides housing for people with autism and disabilities, seniors and vulnerable persons.
He was excited and believed it would be a place he could build a life, Harrington shared, adding "the week before he was killed, he had a good week."
But three days after moving in, LaMorie, 25, was fatally shot in the complex's parking lot. Officers with the Howard County Police Department had responded shortly after midnight on March 1 to a man threatening to harm himself at Patuxent Commons, according to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
Harrington said LaMorie, who she has described as "bright, articulate (and) deeply self-aware," initially called police because he was a victim of a cyber scam.Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der said at a news conference that LaMorie exchanged personal information and photos online with someone who said they were a young woman and then threatened to release the private exchanges unless money was paid.
Body camera footage released March 30 showed officers encountered LaMorie in the parking lot and shouted at him to drop a knife he was holding at his side. As LaMorie walked toward them, officers yelled for him to stop with guns drawn.
"We're getting cornered," one of the officers can be heard saying just before they opened fire.
A provided photo of Alexander LaMorie on Nov. 5, 2025, the day a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Patuxent Commons apartment complex in Columbia, Maryland.What does the body camera video show?
Released video from the body-worn cameras of officers Cody Bostic, Joel Rodriguez and Joseph Riebau starts with police searching for LaMorie in an apartment and a stairwell.
The officers looked at LaMorie's ID and his keys, which were left by the apartment door. Then at least two left to search for LaMorie across the street. Footage from Riebau's bodyworn camera shows he and another officer exited the building and spotted LaMorie standing in the distance.
"It's okay, we can fix this," an officer said. "It's a common scam."
"Can you please drop the knife so we can talk about this?" the officer added.
"I can't do that man," LaMorie said.
"Come on. It's, it's really not this bad. Listen, I've had this call a dozen times," the officer replied.
"I don't care man. I don't care. I don't want to live anymore. I want to be free of my pain, man. I want to be free of my pain. Go ahead," LaMorie said.
"Nobody wants to hurt you. Nobody wants to hurt you," the officer replied.
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LaMorie laughed and walked toward the officers.
Meanwhile, other body camera footage showed that the officers who remained at the apartment heard over radio, "this guy's coming at us with a knife." In a building elevator, Bostic asked Rodriguez if he has a Taser. Rodriguez said he did not.
"The new guy has a Taser though," he said.
The two officers went outside and saw LaMorie, who was walking toward the other officers holding a knife at his side. The officers shouted overlapping commands, telling LaMorie to stop and drop the knife before firing seconds later.
"Please don't make me do this," one officer can be heard saying.
Officers continued to tell LaMorie to drop the knife after he fell to the ground before surrounding him. The attorney general's office said three officers fired their guns, and LaMorie was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mother says police 'overwhelmed' her son before shooting
Harrington said in a statement that she chose not to watch the footage to protect her mental health. She said the video was described to her, and her "heart breaks to know that my son was in stated pain and suicidal crisis."
"The horrific footage released today is deeply shocking," Harrington said. "The loss of Alex continues to cause deep trauma and pain for me, my husband, Alex’s siblings, family, and friends."
From her understanding, LaMorie experienced "an extreme amount of stress that sent him into suicidal crisis," the night of the shooting. LaMorie was following a preestablished safety plan and repetitive behavioral training that instructed him to call 911 if in suicidal crisis, she said.
"I think he may have been straddling with the ambivalence of life and death and was in a lot of pain," Harrington said. "I think a large number of police officers with multiple authoritarian commands overwhelmed, overstimulated, frightened him, and added to as well as exacerbated the mental pain and anguish he was already experiencing."
200 tasers purchased in wake of shooting
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a statement on March 30 that officials have purchased 200 Tasers "so that officers have alternatives when facing dangerous and unpredictable circumstances."
In the past five years, Ball previously said police have gotten more than 5,000 emergency petition calls involving people threatening to harm themselves or others, and the "vast majority" have ended safely.
Ball said county police officers receive specialized crisis intervention training, including 40 hours of instruction focused on interacting with people who have autism and other intellectual or development disabilities. Roughly 80% of officers are formally certified in this training, he said, "but we recognize that training alone cannot prevent every tragedy."
The county executive said in a statement after the release of the body camera footage that "there are no words that can adequately express my grief regarding the tragic loss of" LaMorie.
"As our children grow older and move away from home, our only wish is that they end the day safely," Ball said. "As parents of children who are neurodivergent or differently abled, we often carry a heightened anxiety regarding the safety of our children."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Body cam video shows police fatally shooting Alexander LaMorie
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