Maryland state trooper shot during traffic stop on Eastern Shore

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A Maryland state trooper working in Wicomico County – located on the Eastern Shore of the state – was shot while conducting a traffic stop on Monday night.

Police said the trooper, whose name was not released, conducted a traffic stop on a Toyota Prius in Vienna, Maryland on U.S. Route 50, just before 10 p.m.

When the trooper approached the passenger side of the Prius to make contact with the driver, later identified as Keiford Lee Copper, III, 23, of Trappe, Maryland, Copper allegedly brandished a firearm and shot at the trooper, striking him several times.

Police said the trooper returned fire, though neither Copper nor the other two passengers in the vehicle were struck. Copper fled the scene, heading eastbound on Route 50.

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Another trooper who was on his way home overheard the situation on the radio and responded to the scene, where he found the trooper suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and provided first aid until emergency medical services arrived.

The trooper, who police said is an 18-and-a-half-year veteran of the Maryland State Police, was transported to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, Maryland to be treated for his injuries. He has since been released and placed on administrative leave.

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Shortly after 10 p.m., members of the Delmar Police Department spotted the Toyota Prius and followed it to a dead-end residential street in Delmar, located near the Maryland-Delaware border.

Copper, police said, attempted to turn the Prius around, hitting the curb and two vehicles in the process, before striking a tree and coming to a rest.

Police officers surrounded Copper, who was in the Prius alone. Copper, police added, was slumped over the steering wheel with what appeared to be a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound. There were no reports of gunfire by police at the scene of the car crash, according to police.

An investigation into the incident is being led by the State Police Homicide Unit, which responded to the crime scene along with members of the State police Forensic Sciences Division. While on the scene, investigators recovered a gun from inside the Prius.

Copper, according to Maryland court records, has a criminal record that includes burglary and gun-related charges.

Jason Johnson, the president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, said soft on crime policies fail the public in every way.

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"This man should have been behind bars, not back on the street illegally toting a gun," Johnson said. "When criminal show you who they are, we should believe them."