The man a police officer shot Tuesday night had a gun in his hand and was getting out of his car during a traffic stop, according to police.
Richard Allen Gibbs is expected to survive and will face charges. Police said Gibbs was known to them and as an ex-felon, shouldn't have had the gun in the first place.
Police said the officer has only been with the force for a year and a half. The officer pulled over Gibbs driving a BMW with an obliterated tag.
When asked to get out of the car, a back-up officer saw Gibbs had an unregistered, spray painted pistol in his hand.
Police said there was a brief struggle before the original officer fired his weapon.
"This gun wasn't in a holster, this gun wasn't under a seat. The gun was in the hand of the bad guy and the officers were confronted with a situation and had a very short period of time to make a decision and that decision was he to pull the trigger certainly to prevent himself from harm.This wasn't an empty gun, this wasn't a replica gun, this wasn't a red tip gun. This was an actual gun loaded with five rounds," T.J. Smith the Baltimore City Police Chief Spokesman said.
Gibbs was not on the department's, "trigger pull list," but he was known to police with past charges including robbery, attempted second-degree murder assault and drugs.
He will now face a new set of assault and handgun charges.
The officer who show Gibbs is now on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
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