A Baltimore police officer was indicted Tuesday on manslaughter charges after he allegedly shot an unarmed man in January — a rare occurrence in a city where violent encounters with police are all too common.

A city grand jury charged Officer Tommy Sanders, a five-year veteran of the police force, with one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of involuntary manslaughter in  connection with the Jan. 30 shooting death of Edward Lamont Hunt, 27.

The indictment marks the second time in 12 years a police-involved shooting has resulted in charges against a city officer.

Hunt’s fiancee, Lakia Jeter, hired attorney Dwight Pettit to represent the family in a wrongful-death lawsuit against the police department.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“I’m sure the family will be elated that there is a possibility of justice in this case,” Pettit said of the indictment.

Hunt is one of 16 people shot by city police this year, 12 of whom died.

The Examiner first raised questions about the shooting after witnesses told the paper Hunt was unarmed and shot in the back after being frisked by a city police officer.

Hunt was shot when he broke away from the officer after a lengthy field interview, witnesses said. The officer told investigators Hunt broke away before he had finished frisking him.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also is probing the case.

In April, city police turned over to the FBI transcripts of interviews with about 20 witnesses and other evidence related to Hunt’s death at a Northeast Baltimore shopping center.

Among the evidence turned over was video surveillance tapes taken from a nearby dollar store. The tape  shows Hunt running away with Sanders in pursuit, gun drawn, just moments before the three shots were fired, sources said.

Police officials initially said Hunt possessed drugs, yet they haven’t released details of what types of drugs they believe Hunt was carrying.

In an interview earlier this year, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy told The Examiner her prosecutors have taken police-involved shootings to a grand jury “just a few times” in her 12-year career.

Jessamy said the grand jury has returned only one indictment against an officer in a police-involved shooting during her term in office.

That indictment resulted in an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com