A Baltimore County police officer suspended after a barricade incident in April in Harford County took his own life early Monday morning after a similar incident, police said.
Officer 1st Class James L. Ward, a 19-year veteran of the police department, had been suspended without pay in connection with the earlier incident.
"I was greatly saddened to hear about one of our officers taking his own life after being involved in a barricade situation for the second time. It is fortunate that no one else was hurt," Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said in a statement.
At around 1:30 a.m., Harford County sheriff's deputies were called to the 2000 block of Stratton Court for a report of a suicidal person, identified as Ward.
After several hours of failed attempts to contact him, members of the Sheriff's Office's Special Response Team got into the home and found Ward on a lower floor, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. No one else was injured.
During the barricade, roads were closed and classes were delayed at Patterson Mill middle and high schools.
RELATED: Police activity delays Patterson Mill middle/high schools
On April 21, Ward was injured during a barricade incident at the same location when Harford County sheriff’s deputies shot him after police say Ward shot in the direction of the deputies.
