3 Maryland police officers who killed an autistic student will not be charged

Alexander LaMorie called 911 for help the night he died. Four months later, the state’s top prosecutor said the officers who shot him broke no laws when they shot him 12 times, killing him.

What’s Happening: Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Tuesday that his office will not charge three Howard County police officers in the March 1 shooting death of 25-year-old Alexander LaMorie at the Patuxent Commons apartment complex on Freetown Road in Columbia.

LaMorie, who was autistic, had called 911 to report he was being blackmailed online.

What We Know: LaMorie lived at Patuxent Commons, a housing community designed for adults with disabilities. He was a student at the University of Maryland Global Campus and served on the advisory board for the Autism and Grief Project. He called police shortly before midnight Feb. 28 to report a cyber-extortion scam in which someone on the messaging app Telegram claimed to be a 13-year-old and threatened him unless he paid $100.

The Night of the Shooting: Officers Joseph Riebau, Joel Rodriguez, and Cody Bostic responded to LaMorie’s apartment. During a phone call before they arrived, LaMorie made statements about wanting to harm himself. Officers found his apartment empty and searched the building.

When Riebau and a trainee officer exited to the parking lot, LaMorie was there holding a knife. The other two officers came outside. According to the AG’s report, officers repeatedly ordered LaMorie to drop the knife and backed toward the building as he moved toward them. All three officers fired. LaMorie was pronounced dead at 12:34 a.m.

The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Twelve shell casings were recovered at the scene.

The Decision: Brown’s office said it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers committed a crime. The AG’s Independent Investigations Division, which by law investigates police shootings in Maryland, spent four months reviewing body camera footage, surveillance video, and other evidence before concluding July 1 that the shooting did not meet the legal standard for criminal charges. The three officers declined to give statements to investigators. The AG’s office said that choice had no effect on the outcome.

How This Affects Real People: LaMorie’s family and disability advocates have publicly identified him as autistic. His death has drawn attention to how police respond to mental health crises and to residents of disability-focused housing communities. The AG’s decision closes the criminal case, though it does not address civil liability or any internal review by the Howard County Police Department.

What’s Still Unknown: The AG’s office does not address whether the department will take any administrative action against the officers. It also does not evaluate whether additional resources, such as a mental health crisis team, were available or considered that night. The report notes the department’s own policy lists waiting out subjects and calling in specialized units as de-escalation options, but does not say whether those options were available or attempted.