MD State Police ID Suspect In Trooper-Involved Fatal Shooting

NORTH EAST, MD —Maryland State Police have identified the suspect who died in Sunday's trooper-involved shooting. The incident also left a Cecil County sheriff's deputy with gunshot wounds, though he has been released from the hospital.

As is procedure, the Maryland State Police Internal Affairs Division is conducting an investigation into the shooting. Members of the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and Criminal Enforcement Division investigators also responded to the scene to investigate. The homicide unit's criminal investigation is procedure in all trooper-involved shootings.

The trooper who fired the fatal shot has been placed on administrative leave, which is procedure, and the other trooper at the scene has been placed on administrative duty, the state police said.

Jonathan Balchunas, 24, of North East, has been identified as the suspect who was shot and killed in an apartment in the 100 block of Chesapeake Ridge Lane in North East. His body was transported to the Office of the Chief Examiner in Baltimore, which will conduct an autopsy to gather more information about the origin of the fatal shot.

According to police reports, shortly after 3:40 p.m. Sunday, two state troopers and a sheriff's deputy responded to reports of a man with a gun at the Chesapeake Ridge Lane address. It was later learned, a 9-1-1 call had been made by the suspect's father.

As the trio of officers approached the residence, they heard an argument and someone yell "he has a gun." At which point, the officers entered the apartment through an unlocked front door and were immediately fired upon by the suspect.

One of the troopers returned fire, later saying he had been in fear for his life and for the lives of the other police officers. As the officers took cover outside the apartment, they discovered the sheriff's deputy had been shot.

Eventually, members of the Cecil County Response Team responded to the scene, where they located the suspect deceased in the kitchen with a 9mm firearm nearby and the red laser of the suspect's firearm aimed at the front door, the state police reported.

Maryland State Police crime scene technicians eventually recovered the loaded firearm next to the deceased along with multiple other firearms in the apartment.

According to the investigation by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and the Criminal Enforcement Division, which included an interview with the father of the deceased, the father and son had been involved in an ongoing altercation.

The father told investigators that just prior to him calling 9-1-1, he had watched his son load the 9mm firearm. The son then placed the barrel of the gun on the father's head and told the father that, if the police arrived, he would "kill them too."

Additionally, the Cecil County State's Attorney was on the scene Sunday and will review the criminal investigation after it has been completed.

The state police said the investigation is ongoing.