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Suspect in officer-involved shooting "well known" to Baltimore Police, commissioner says

Police: No connection to recent FBI warning
Posted at 3:05 PM, Jul 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-15 19:24:52-04

The 33-year-old man killed in an officer-involved shooting Thursday night was "well-known" to police officers, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said in a Friday afternoon press conference. 

Dayten Ernest Harper, who was armed with an AR-15 style rifle, was shot after two officers fired at him, and later died at an area hospital. 

Related: Suspect dead in police-involved shooting in West Baltimore

Four officers were on the scene on Winchester Street when Harper opened fire on them. The two officers who shot Harper are 6- and 16-year veterans of the department. 

Both are on routine administrative duty following the shooting. 

"We're lucky we don't have four dead cops today," Davis said, adding these types of weapons are "everywhere." 

See also: ATF urgently attempting to trace AR-15 style rifle used in police-involved shooting

Earlier Thursday, Davis said the FBI sent out a warning to Maryland police departments about a possible gang-related threat to officers. Davis said this shooting is not connected to that warning, and that it was purely a coincidence. 

"This was not an ambush," he said. 

He said it is still unclear why Harper shot at police. 

"But we know how it makes us feel," Davis said. 

Baltimore Police recently started to wear body cameras, but only one of the officers was wearing one at the time of the shooting, Davis said. 

He didn't have time to activate it, the commissioner said. 

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