Baltimore officer in “no shoot zone” death won’t be prosecuted

Last November, Baltimore police were summoned to the scene of a reported robbery and assault. One of the responding officers was Zachary Rutherford. Upon arriving, they found a man standing over a woman with a knife. The situation escalated and Rutherford wound up shooting at the man 14 times and striking him with 12 rounds. The suspect later died at the hospital. There was a bit of irony involved in the story because the suspect, Tyree Moorehead, had previously become something of a local celebrity by going around the city and spray painting “no-shoot zone” on buildings, in an apparent message to the city’s gangbangers. The shooting led to predictable public outrage and calls for “justice.” But this week, an investigation into the shooting was concluded and Zachary Rutherford will not be facing any charges as a result. (CBS Baltimore)

The Baltimore Police officer who shot and killed Tyree Moorehead, a Black man known for spray painting “no-shoot zones” across the city, will not be prosecuted after an investigative report by the state.

The Independent Investigations Division of the Office of the Attorney General is tasked with investigating all police-involved fatalities in the state.

At the conclusion of each independent investigation, the IID prepares a report and transmits it to the local State’s Attorney that has jurisdiction to prosecute the matter.

When I first heard about this story last year, even I had to concede that 14 shots at a guy armed with a knife seemed like a bit of overkill, if you’ll pardon the phrase. But reading further into the details, the police response might be understandable. Moorehead had grabbed the woman’s purse and when she refused to let go of it, he dragged her into the street and knocked her down. He then shoved the knife in her face, threatening her. That’s what was happening when the police arrived.

Moorehead was ordered to drop his knife and get down on the pavement. But rather than complying, he lunged at the frightened woman with the blade and pinned her down. That’s when Rutherford opened fire. It was apparently never determined whether Moorehead was one of those suspects on PCP who seems to take on superpowers or if he was just really hard to kill. But for whatever reason, he just kept on going after taking the first couple of rounds. The man simply would not go down or even drop his weapon.

You can read the full report from the Internal Investigations Division here. The IID had plenty to work with since all of the police involved were wearing body cameras. There were also recordings of relevant radio transmissions and interviews with both witnesses and police officers. Oddly, the first call that came in for the Baltimore PD was from Moorehead’s father. He said, “There’s a guy out here with a knife. Don’t kill him because he is my son.”

Incredibly, even after taking 13 rounds and rolling off of the victim and onto his back, Moorehead placed one hand on the ground and attempted to rise again, brandishing the knife at the police. That’s when Rutherford fired the 14th and final shot. Moorehead went down and stayed down at last. But despite continued commands from the police to “Drop the knife,” Moorehead continued to hold onto it for 27 seconds before finally allowing it to fall to the pavement. All of this was recorded on both officers’ body cams.

When all you have is a knife and you know the police have guns, it almost sounds like you’re committing “suicide by cop” at that point. Moorehead’s autopsy report is included in the IID documents. It details all of the bullet wounds but makes no mention of any test for drugs in his system, legal or otherwise. Moorehead’s father told the police that his son was “crazy,” but also said that he was not under the treatment of any medical professionals and he wasn’t given any prescription drugs.

This shooting provoked the usual outrage because Tyree Moorehead was black and Zachary Rutherford was white. But reading through all of the details, Moorehead was also unbalanced in some fashion and had a clear penchant for violence. He supposedly worked to stop gang shootings in the city, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with robberies or knife attacks. A woman’s life was in obvious imminent danger and the police did what they had to do. Even the State’s Attorney agrees with that, so the matter should be closed.