Armed man shot himself in the head at North Avenue courthouse forcing the court in Baltimore City Maryland to close on Friday morning

35-year-old man reportedly, entered the Eastside District Court in Baltimore around 8:40 am Friday

“He was clearly suffering from behavioral crisis, he was walking back and forth,” and yelling, with police yet to uncover why he came to the courthouse

“Sheriff’s deputies and the bailiffs tried to interact with him. At some point, he withdrew a firearm from his body, pointed it at his head,” according to BPD

Deputies reportedly, tried to get him to drop his weapon” before a bailiff fired two shots, striking the man in the lower” body

The man then fired a shot to his own head, and was transported to hospital, his condition listed as critical

The Eastside District Court on North Avenue in Baltimore, MD, was closed Friday after a shooting

The North Avenue District Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland is closed Friday after a shooting.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said a 35-year-old man who entered the Eastside District Court on North Avenue in Baltimore around 8:40 a.m. Friday ” clearly suffering from behavioral crisis, as he was walking back and forth.”
“Sheriff’s deputies and the bailiffs tried to interact with him. At some point, he withdrew a firearm from his body, pointed it at his head. The deputies tried to get him to drop his weapon,”
Commissioner Worley said.
A bailiff, who is a retired BPD member, fired two shots, striking the man in the lower extremities. The man fired a shot to his own head.
Witnesses scrambled to safety as shots rang out inside the courthouse and one bullet went through a glass door. A doctor in the courthouse attended to the injured man until paramedics arrived. He was then transported to a hospital, listed as critical.
The only person shot was the armed man, but the reason for his visit to the courthouse remains unknown.
Police said the man got into the courthouse’s main entrance, but did not get past the security checkpoint.
“What happened is it looked like he went through the second set of double doors; he never reached the security system,” Worley said.

The reason for the man being at the courthouse is still unknown, but Baltimore City Sheriff Sam Cogen, [photo], says Maryland lawmakers are considering House Bill 789, which establishes minimum adequate security standards at all courthouses across the state

“This, of course, is a tragic situation. I want to thank all the law enforcement involved,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “This again shows behavior and mental health is a real and deep issue. We have to make sure that people who are having this kind of issues don’t have that easy access to firearms and weapons.”
Baltimore City Sheriff Sam Cogen revealed that Maryland lawmakers are considering House Bill 789, which calls for establishing minimum adequate security standards at all courthouses across the state.
“I think this highlights the importance of court security, that we take the importance of this incident when it comes to protecting our courts and making sure we can have justice for everyone and people can feel safe at our courthouses.”