Detective Sean Suiter Death: Report Reveals 'Disturbing' Findings

BALTIMORE, MD — The Independent Review Board tasked with taking another look at the Baltimore Police Department's investigation into the death of Detective Sean Suiter has released its final report. The findings were made public Tuesday, more than nine months after the Baltimore homicide detective died.

Suiter, 43, was shot in the head with his service weapon on Nov. 15, 2017, while investigating a triple homicide from 2016, according to officials.

Police said there were signs of a struggle.

But that was not accurate, according to the independent group commissioned to review the investigation.

"The Board concludes that, based upon the totality of the evidence, Detective Suiter intentionally took his own life with his service weapon," the report states.

Read the report from the Independent Review Board.

Suiter was to testify before a grand jury in connection with a federal racketeering case connected to the now defunct Gun Trace Task Force the day after he was shot.

The detective died on Nov. 16, 2017, from a gunshot wound to the head.

His funeral drew police from around the region, and the governor proclaimed him a "hero."

But there was skepticism that he may have shot himself, and that was what the board determined occurred.

Here are some of the pieces of evidence the board cited in coming to its conclusion:

• There were no wounds, cuts or scrapes on Suiter's knuckles, hands or arms to indicate a struggle, and his police radio was in his left hand, inconsistent with a struggle. However, the board noted: "...Detective Suiter’s hands were cleaned with peroxide at the hospital, providing one explanation for why no dirt or other material was found on the hands or fingernails. In the rush to attempt to save his life, hospital personnel cleaned Detective Suiter’s hands before law enforcement personnel could perform a gunshot residue test."
• The board said Suiter had been trained by the military and police force to use the gun slide to disable the weapon if attacked, and therefore it was unlikely he would have been shot with his own weapon by another person.
• His partner who was with him that day — Detective Bomenka — told investigators that he did not see anyone, did not hear anyone running away and did not hear a vehicle driving away after the shooting. He questioned while the two were in the patrol car whether they had seen anyone at all who appeared suspicious but Suiter continued trying to find the person he claimed to have spotted in an alley.
• "Suiter was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury the following day in connection with the BPD Gun Trace Task Force ('GTTF') corruption investigation; Suiter was considered a 'subject' of that investigation, and another GTTF member had implicated Suiter in criminal wrongdoing," the board reported, "and Suiter’s attorney repeatedly attempted to contact him the afternoon of November 15 to confirm a meeting that evening at 5 p.m., but Suiter ignored the calls and texts." When his partner noticed he clicked off his phone — Suiter's attorney called at 4:27 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. that day — and asked if it was Suiter's wife, the detective replied it was a friend he would call later. The fatal shooting occurred at 4:36 p.m.
• A neighbor’s video camera and testimony of two witnesses establish that a suspect would have had a couple of seconds at most to disarm Suiter, shoot him with his own weapon, erase any trace of his presence, and exit the vacant lot without being seen or heard, officials concluded.

The board also looked into lessons that could be learned from the massive investigation that ensued.

"Perhaps the most important lesson learned is that the Suiter investigation serves as a case study in how BPD has failed to learn its lessons from prior tragedies," according to the report.

A major finding was that there was no clear incident command system in place, which is recommended by law enforcement agencies across the nation for events that may last more than 10 hours, the board said.

"It is disturbing that BPD has been so resistant to this well-recognized policing best practice," the report states.

In particular, the board said that Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, who has since been terminated, told leaders he appointed a commander to lead the incident command system, and the commander said he was only around for the first day of the investigation, retired in early 2018 and thought that incident command was the responsibility of the patrol district.

Davis was also accused of not sharing pertinent information with the homicide detectives working on the Suiter investigation, to the point that "communication protocols were established so that the FBI could share information directly with the homicide detectives working the case," the board found.

Davis did not share information provided by federal authorities regarding the GTTF probe, notably that Suiter was a "subject" in the investigation, a category that falls between a witness and a target, meaning the person may or may not have criminal responsibility. Suiter was also granted limited immunity for his cooperation in the GTTF investigation.

The board said that the FBI tried to interview Suiter on Oct. 24, 2017, about the GTTF case and he declined, then was served with a grand jury subpoena. He allegedly asked the FBI agents whether he would lose his job, and subsequently retained an attorney who arranged with federal prosecutors that in return for Suiter's testimony, he would be given limited immunity related to an incident in 2010 that resulted in two wrongful convictions and the death of another person.

"Commissioner Davis failed to provide to his colleagues information he received from federal law enforcement officials indicating that Suiter may have been involved in criminal activities with GTTF members. This evidence was highly relevant to the issue of motive in connection with a potential suicide. The Commissioner, however, repeatedly stated that there was 'no evidence suggesting that Detective Suiter was a dirty cop,'" according to the board's report. "It should go without saying that police officers should be candid and complete in sharing information about a potential homicide with the lead investigators."

The Baltimore Police Department and members of the Independent Review Board took questions at an 11 a.m. press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

Watch the press conference:

Press conference to announce IRB report https://t.co/hgFGwXheKg
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) August 29, 2018

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Image via Officer Down Memorial Page, Baltimore Police Department.