Police in Prince George's County may owe their lives to a special security addition at apartments where they were conducting a drug raid.
While executing a search warrant at Regency Point Apartments in Forestville, Md., Monday morning, a heavy steel door got in officers’ way. They repeatedly struck the door with a 90-pound battering ram with no luck, hitting it so many times they needed reinforcements to take over the battering ram.
Police took more than a minute to break through, repeatedly announcing their presence and requesting any occupants of the apartment let them in, but just before the officers could break through the door, a man inside tried to shoot them through it.
The bullet lodged in the door, preventing the officers from being struck.
“You hear about how dangerous police work is every day, but when you look at that door, you see a very real and frightening example of just how dangerous their work is,” said Julie Parker of Prince George’s County police.
Police said they believe the handgun jammed after the first shot was fired, and the man tried to get rid of the gun by throwing it out a bedroom window, but police recovered it along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Police arrested 25-year-old Jeremiah Pearson and charged him with multiple counts of attempted murder. According to court records, he has at least three drug convictions and a conviction for using a firearm while distributing drugs.
