Two officers from a Maryland police department were shot after their unit entered the wrong apartment while serving a search warrant, officials said Thursday. (WTTG)
The two Maryland police officers who were shot while executing a drug-related search warrant late Wednesday had entered the wrong apartment, officials said.
Officers from Prince George's County Police entered the home of “a law-abiding” resident after an investigation led officers to incorrectly conclude that the address was that of a suspected drug dealer, police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a news conference Thursday.
"The individual that we are targeting does not live at that address ... a law-abiding, hard-working citizen of Prince George's County and his daughter were home at the point where we were executing that search warrant," Stawinski said.
As of Thursday afternoon, one officer has been released, while the other remained hospitalized for surgery on his face and an arm, Washington station WUSA-TV reported.
The shooting took place Wednesday night as a unit of nine officers served a search warrant at an apartment complex about 20 miles south of the nation's capital. After knocking on the door and getting no response, officers used a device to open it.
The resident, who had fallen asleep and didn’t hear police announce themselves, fired a shotgun as soon as officers opened the door, striking one in the shoulder and the other in a hand, officials said. One officer returned fire, but didn’t hit anyone.
The man immediately surrendered once he realized they were police officers, officials said.
“You got the wrong address. Don’t shoot my daughter,” the father said, according to Stawinski.
The chief apologized for the blunder and said there will not be any criminal charges filed against the resident, Washington news station WTOP-FM reported.
Earlier this month, a police officer in Dallas was charged with manslaughter after entering an apartment she mistook as her own and fatally shooting the resident.
Fox News’ Benjamin Brown and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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