Police: Maryland man killed 3 neighbors, set house ablaze
Police say a Maryland man went on a rampage over the weekend, shooting or stabbing to death three of his neighbors and setting his home on fire before responding officers fatally shot him
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Your support makes all the difference.A Maryland man who neighbors said had a long history of aggression went on a rampage over the weekend, shooting or stabbing three people to death and setting his home on fire before responding officers fatally shot him, police said Sunday.
A news release from the Baltimore County Police Department identified the victims and offered the clearest picture so far of what the department said unfolded on a residential street in suburban Baltimore early Saturday morning.
According to police, a preliminary investigation indicates 56-year-old Everton Brown forced his way into a neighboring house, where he stabbed and shot Ismael Quintanilla, 41.
As Sara Alacote, 37, ran from that home in an attempt to escape, Brown chased her outside, fatally shooting her several times, the news release said. When two neighbors emerged from their home, Brown shot them as well, according to police.
One of those two, 24-year-old Sagar Ghimire, was later pronounced dead, the news release said. The other gunshot victim, who was not identified, is recovering from his injuries.
At some point during the course of events, Brown also set fire to his residence, police said. The scene was a charred mess — a fire official said Saturday that the building where the fire started, as well as one adjacent to it, collapsed and a third dwelling was heavily damaged.
Police received numerous calls reporting both the fire and an active shooter. Responding officers who were wearing body cameras encountered Brown in the parking lot, police said.
Four fired shots at him until they were able to take him into custody, according to the news release. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators later found several homemade explosive devices in one of Brown’s two vehicles, police said. They also recovered a handgun and large knife.
Police have not provided a motive or details about what preceded the attack. They said Sunday they were still conducting interviews and processing the scene.
Gail Watts, a longtime resident of the neighborhood who said she witnessed the attack unfolding, told The Associated Press on Saturday that many in the neighborhood thought Brown was mentally ill. She said he was aggressive toward women and often accused neighbors of surveilling him.
Other neighbors who spoke with the Baltimore Sun, which had written about Brown in 2008, described similar threatening, erratic behavior.
Detola Laditan, whose parents have lived nearby since 2005, told the newspaper Brown had been “terrorizing the residents on the street” as long as they’ve lived there.
“Everybody knew something was going to happen,” Laditan said. "Everybody lived in fear.”
Brown unsuccessfully sued the Department of Justice in federal court in 2012, the newspaper reported, alleging the agency had been running surveillance on him for more than five years and had unlawfully denied a public records request seeking records of said surveillance.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit, writing in his decision that “Brown’s videos of purported aerial surveillance by the FBI generally show only stars or other celestial bodies," the newspaper reported.