Off-duty police officer exchanges gunfire during robbery attempt

Landover (Map, News) - An off-duty D.C. police officer exchanged gunfire with men who tried to rob him outside his Landover home Monday morning as he was leaving for work, a Prince George's County police spokesman said.

According to Cpl. Clinton Copeland, the Metropolitan Police Department officer, whose name isn’t being released, was uninjured in the incident. Prince George’s police are looking for three black men who had green camouflage bandanas covering parts of their faces.

Copeland said the police officer was getting into his vehicle on Finch Drive around 5:45 a.m. when three men got out of their car and demanded money.

The officer “then draws his firearm and then we have an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the officer,” Copeland told The Examiner.

Although the police officer was in uniform, Copeland said, he was wearing a jacket so you “didn't really know he was a police officer.” Copeland was unsure whether the victim had identified himself as a police officer.

After exchanging shots, Copeland said the suspects fled in a dark Chrysler 300M or Concord.

“Investigators are trying to determine if any of the suspects were hit,” Copeland said. “They are checking area hospitals to see if anyone has been admitted for any type of gun shot wounds or injuries.”

Copeland didn’t know how many of the suspects fired shots or whether the suspects or the officer fired first. He didn’t believe the suspects took any money.

A D.C. police spokesman, officer Junis Fletcher, said Monday morning that he was unaware of the incident.

Prince George's police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call 1-866-411-TIPS.

dfowler@dcexaminer.com