Flanked by two homicide detectives, Baltimore Police Officer Tommy Sanders turned himself in early Wednesday morning outside the city’s Central Booking facility.

Sanders, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of Edward Lamont Hunt, was ushered into an unmarked police car and driven to the jail for processing.

Tuesday, a city grand jury indicted Sanders on charges of shooting Hunt, 27, twice in the back in the parking lot of a northeast Baltimore shopping center Jan. 30.

Police have said Sanders feared for his safety, but multiple witnesses said Sanders frisked Hunt thoroughly before shooting him.

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An attorney who accompanied Sanders to the jail declined to comment.

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

Paul Blair, president of the city police union, said Sanders is the kind of officer the department wants.

“He’s African-American. He’s a city resident. He has a wife and kids,” Blair said. “This is the kind of officer we want to hire.”

Blair questioned the indictment, asking how this shooting rose to the level of a crime, when the vast majority do not.

“Aren’t they all unintentional manslaughter? Wouldn’t we all be guilty?” he asked.

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

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

Pettit called the shooting “outrageous.”

“There was an outright assault on Mr. Hunt,” he said.

Blair said Pettit was interested only in making money, and that the union will pick up Sanders’ legal bills.

“I can’t know the level of fear that was in that officer’s mind,” he said. “The officer had to believe that his or someone else’s life was in danger. We don’t shoot to kill.”

The Examiner first raised questions about the shooting after witnesses told the newspaper Hunt was unarmed and shot in the back after being frisked by an officer.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com