Statement
Statement from Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on the Video from the Officer-Involved Shooting in Gaithersburg
For Immediate Release: Tuesday 27 July
Today, as part of our ongoing efforts to be as transparent as possible surrounding the investigation of the fatal shooting of Ryan LeRoux at a Gaithersburg McDonald's on July 16, the body worn camera footage of this incident has been released to the public.
I appreciate the patience of those who have been waiting to see this footage, and I thank the police department, working with Howard County State's Attorney Rich Gibson Jr., for releasing this video as soon as they could. The Howard County state's attorney asked us to wait to release the video until after statements were collected from the involved parties. That has been done, allowing us to release the video now.
As the community views the footage of this tragic incident, residents may have a variety of questions, as do I. I am trying to understand how an incident that began calmly turned violent so suddenly. I also want to determine whether there are tactical approaches that would minimize situations where officers must make split-second, life-or-death decisions.
We need a careful review of how this outcome might have been averted. My concern is that even if an event is deemed justifiable in that moment, it may not have been inevitable.
As County Executive, I have the responsibility of doing everything I can to prevent a situation like this from happening again if possible. Today, I am announcing that our partner, Effective Law Enforcement for All, Inc., will be working with the County to conduct an "after-action" review of this and other lethal use-of-force incidents.
These reviews will provide additional recommendations for policy as well trainings needed to avoid similar situations. This will not be a separate investigation into this incident but a set of "case studies" in how we respond to these situations and whether our tactics and procedures before, during, and after incidents can be improved.
We continue to express our condolences to Mr. LeRoux's family and friends. I also want to assure our community that we will continue to engage and communicate transparently about this incident throughout the legal process moving forward.
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Release ID: 21-020