An armed, off-duty Maryland police officer sent two suspected carjackers fleeing when he fired his weapon as they forced his family out of a vehicle near a large shopping mall outside of Washington, D.C., police say.
“Continue to remain diligent. Be aware of your surroundings,” Prince George Assistant Chief Vernon Hale III said during a press conference last week. “As you can see, if this can happen to an off-duty officer, it can certainly happen to a family. So, we want to make sure that everybody remains diligent, take care of one another, and keep your eyes open.”
Hale said an unidentified off-duty police officer with the department was assisting two of his family members as they got into their personal vehicle at about 5 p.m. Thursday in Oxon Hill when they were approached by at least two suspects, Fox 5 DC reported. The family was in a parking lot that serves office buildings, including dental and medical offices, and is located across the street from the Tanger Outlets National Harbor shopping center.
The off-duty cop and his family were forced from the vehicle, Hale said, calling the incident an “apparent carjacking.”