COLUMBIA, Md. — A 911 call to report he was the victim of an extortion scam led to death of an autistic man at the hands of police earlier this month.
That was among the revelations shared by Howard County Police on Thursday during a news conference, as other details in the death of 25-year-old Alexander LaMorie remained under wraps.
“This tragic sequence of events began with a cruel online scam and ended with the worst kind of loss,” Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der said. “After exchanging personal information and photos online with someone who claimed to be a young woman, Alex received a threat from the individual stating that the private exchanges would be released unless money was paid.”
Man killed in police shooting called 911 to report he was the victim of a 'cruel' extortion scam
LaMorie died on Sunday, March 1 after police shot and killed him outside of his apartment complex, Patuxent Commons, on Freetown road. Investigators say he approached officers with a knife that he refused to drop despite multiple commands to do so.
Der says the department is now working to find the person or persons who were behind the screen and hold them accountable. He has also petitioned the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division, which is handling the investigation, to release the body-worn camera footage sooner than legally required.
LaMorie had just moved into Patuxent Commons three days prior to the incident. He had won a spot in a lottery last Fall during its ribbon cutting. The building, a project made for people like LaMorie in mind, holds 25% capacity for adults with intellectual and other disabilities.
“We felt deep gratitude that Alex was beginning a new chapter in a beautiful, autism-inclusive planned community in what we believed to be a mental-health-informed suburban city close to us,” his mother Dr. Jill Harrington said.
In the last five years, the county has handled 5,000 emergency petition calls, where a person is threatening to harm themself or others. The vast majority resulting in a safe outcome, according to County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball.
“There’s always room where we can learn from an incident. Even one as heartbreaking as this and try to implement even newer, best practices,” he said.
Police also confirmed that two of the officers who responded had Crisis Intervention Training, a voluntary 40 hour program where officers learn to interact with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
80% of the department has this training, higher than the state standard.
Another was a specially-trained negotiator.
Questions remain unanswered
The department couldn’t answer every question about the case, citing the state’s ongoing investigation.
Per Maryland state law, the IID investigates all officer-involved shootings that result in a fatality.
“We don’t even have all the information because it’s not our investigation. That’s important because we know that it’s independent, it’s unbiased, it’s impartial,” HCPD director of public affairs and media relations Sherry Llewellyn explained.
“That’s the goal here. But with that does come some limitations," she added.
Ball says the county is exploring expanding non-lethal options and possibly purchasing more tasers after the incident.
But it remains unclear if responding officers had tasers on them, as neither the police department nor the Attorney General’s office could confirm.
It’s also unknown what exactly the officers knew about LaMorie's diagnosis while responding to the call.
Ball also touted the programs the county already has to help support the neurodivergent and disabled communities, including a voluntary and confidential 911 flagging system.
It allows individuals to make first responders aware of any behaviors that could affect a police response, but it requires a sign-up beforehand.
LaMorie, who was new to the county, was not a part of the system.
Family blasts county leaders over “deafening” silence since shooting
LaMorie’s family tells WMAR-2 News it was made aware of the conference only 15-20 minutes prior to, on a day when his mother says they had planned to pay private and quiet respect to LaMorie’s remains. Instead the clinical social worker and therapist said it trigger “unnecessary additional traumatic stress.”
“Since the time of Alex’s death, we have not received a call nor a letter of condolence from any person from the County government,” Harrington said.
Harrington describes how the family were on scene within the hour of the shooting, but were provided no details only that the state would be handling the case.
“We were left guessing the cause and manner of his death – to say it is distressing and the nightmares I had is an understatement. In the two hours that the police were aware I was sitting in the car, we were never offered any crisis support, resources or victim’s services,” Harrington said. “The silence has been deafening.”
In her statement, she shared that she hopes that county leaders will turn pain into purpose with meaningful and effective change for police and mental-health partnership in response to suicidal crises.
“The way Alex died has earned the fear and seismic distrust from many communities, especially the disability community,” she shared.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org.