Two rifles seized by police Photo | MCPD
Attorneys for the Potomac man who was fatally shot Thursday by a member of the Montgomery County Police Department Tactical Unit said the man and his girlfriend were asleep when the shooting began and that police “murdered” him.
However, the police believe that is not what happened and said they are investigating the incident.
According to police, “During the warrant service, the suspect confronted the officers and was fatally shot by an officer assigned to the Tactical Unit.”
Members of the MCPS’s Special Operations Division – Tactical Unit were in the process of serving what they called a “high-risk warrant” related to firearms offenses at that address when the shooting occurred, according to a news release from the police department.
Police identified the suspect as Duncan Socrates Lemp, 21, of the 12200 block of St. James Road in Potomac.
Lemp was prohibited from possessing firearms, and detectives were following up on a complaint from the public that Lemp did have firearms.
After reading Montgomery Community Media’s article about the incident on Twitter, attorneys for the Lemp family wrote to say that “at approximately 5:00 a.m. Montgomery County Police opened fire on a family while they were sleeping, The police fired multiple shots from outside the home killing 21-year-old Duncan Lemp and injuring his girlfriend,” who was not named.
Attorneys Rene Sandler and Jonathan Fellner noted that while police did have a search warrant, that warrant “makes no mention of any imminent threat to law enforcement or the community. No resident of the home had any criminal record.”
Further, the attorneys said, “Any attempt by the police to shift responsibility onto Duncan or his family who were sleeping when the police fire shots into their home is not supported by the facts.”
When contacted Saturday, Police Spokesman Capt. Thomas Jordan would only say, “Our statement is our statement. An investigation into the incident is ongoing and per standard practice we don’t comment on ongoing investigations in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation.”
His email also said, “We respect the family’s right to make statements, but it in no way reflects a full investigation into the incident, which is ongoing.”
The attorneys said they, too, will be investigating the death “and will hold each and every person responsible for his death. We believe that the camera footage will support what Duncan’s family already knows, that he was murdered.”
The attorneys also noted, “The conduct of the police during the shooting and treatment of the victim’s family by those officers responsible for Duncan’s death has been traumatic for the family.”
The officer, who was not identified, was placed on administrative leave, as is the normal procedure. Detectives from the Major Crimes Division are investigating the incidents.
The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office will review the officer-involved shooting at the conclusion of the investigation. This will occur following an agreement between the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office that calls for the county that was not involved in the office-involved shooting to review the incident.
