FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Today, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced his decision not to seek charges in the Wednesday, December 3, 2025 fatal police-involved shooting that occurred in Essex, Baltimore County, Maryland.
On December 3, 2025, at approximately 8:30 p.m., officers with the Baltimore County Police Department (BCoPD) responded to an apartment located in the 900 block of Holgate Drive after receiving a 911 call for a stabbing. Officers arrived and encountered a man, later identified as Howard Sye, holding a knife. Officers gave Sye verbal commands to drop the knife. Sye did not comply. One of the officers attempted to take the knife from Sye. In response, Sye maintained control of his knife in one hand and used his other hand to punch at the officer’s head. At that point, multiple officers discharged their service weapons, striking Sye. Officers provided medical aid until emergency medical services (EMS) arrived on the scene and transported Sye to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division (IID) began investigating the fatal police-involved shooting on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, and concluded its investigation on March 16, 2026. After completing its investigation and evaluating all the available evidence, the Office of the Attorney General has determined that the subject officers did not commit a crime under Maryland law. Accordingly, the Attorney General has declined to prosecute the subject officers in this case.
A copy of the IID’s detailed investigative findings and analysis of relevant legal issues can be found in its declination report.
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