No Charges Filed In Harford Co. Officer-Involved Shooting Of Suicidal Man: Prosecutor

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — An investigative report has shed light on a fatal officer-involved shooting that unfolded in Harford County April 23, 2022.

At approximately 4 p.m., deputies with the Harford County Sheriff's Office were called to a parking lot in the 1500 block of Rock Spring Road in Forest Hill for a report of a suicidal person with access to firearms.

Deputies found John Fauver in a truck in the parking lot. According to the Maryland Attorney General's Office, Sergeant Bradford Sives got out of his patrol car and ordered Fauver out of his truck at gunpoint. But Fauver drove away and Sives fired his gun multiple times at the truck’s tires. Fauver kept driving and stopped in an adjacent area in the parking lot, according to the police department.

After several minutes, Fauver exited his truck and talked to the deputies on scene. But then Fauver grabbed an item from his truck and pointed it at deputies. Corporal Christopher Maddox and Sives both discharged their firearms, according to the police department.

Only the shots from Sives’ shotgun hit Fauver. A medical walking cane was found near Fauver, according to the police department, who later died at an area hospital.

On April 25, 2022, the Attorney General’s Office filed suit in Harford County Circuit Court requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the Harford County Sheriff ’s Office from interfering with the office's Independent Investigations Division's (IID) investigation in violation of state law.

On April 28, 2022, following a hearing on the matter, a judge granted the Attorney General’s request for a temporary restraining order that instructed the Harford County Sheriff ’s Office to immediately turn over all evidence to the IID.

On June 29, 2022, former Harford County State’s Attorney Albert Peisinger announced that he was declining to prosecute the case. The IID wrapped up its investigation Nov. 21, 2022, and shared its report with the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office Nov. 23, 2022. Current Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey notified the IID on March 27, 2023, of her decision not to prosecute the case. A copy of the investigative report can be found here.

“While the death of any of our county residents is tragic, and I am very sorry for the loss of Mr. Fauver’s life, the evidence in this case does not support criminal prosecution," Healey said.