Police: Dundalk Kmart Threat Sparked Chase, Led to Lockdown

The incident that led Kmart to evacuate and tactical teams to deploy to Dundalk Wednesday afternoon began with a threat and a crowbar, according to police.

At approximately 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, a witness flagged down a patrol officer on 54th Street to report that a shirtless man carrying a crowbar had approached and threatened him in the parking lot of Kmart, police said.

The man had told the witness he had a gun, according to a statement from the Baltimore County Police Department.

Police said that the shirtless man, identified as 32-year-old Clifton Rodney Duncan Jr., of the 2600 block of Yorkway, proceeded to use his crowbar to destroy a glass door at Kmart, in the 200 block of North Point Boulevard.

Authorities said they later found ammunition and narcotics in the vehicle Duncan drove to the Kmart.

From the store, he fled to the nearby Colgate neighborhood, where he broke into a home in the 7700 block of Eastdale Road with a flowerpot, police said.

When police called for him to come out, he said twice: "Get back—I have a gun!" according to the statement.

Duncan had stolen a knife from the home, police reported later.

After leaving through the back of the house, Duncan headed for Colgate Park before running into the Winner Distributing Company in the 7600 block of Canton Center Drive, police said.

When police ordered him to come out, Duncan refused, and the Baltimore County Police Tactical Team responded, according to the statement from police.

Approximately 45 people were evacuated from the building, police said, and five people were still inside.

The five people who were still inside did not have contact with Duncan, according to Elise Armacost, director of media and communications for Baltimore County Public Safety. They were in a different part of the building, she said, but were not free to leave for two and a half hours as police obtained enough information regarding Duncan's whereabouts to assist them out safely.

As police worked to secure the area, nearby Colgate Elementary School went into "alert" mode, with doors to the school locked and dismissal delayed for 250 students. The Kmart store was reportedly evacuated and parking lot shut down during the investigation.

Police were inside the Winner building on Canton Center Drive at 6:46 p.m. when Duncan opened the door to an office where he had barricaded himself, Armacost said. This was four hours after the incident began, she said, adding, "Duncan gave no indication that he would come out of the building."

Police used a Taser to subdue him, according to officials.

Officials said they found a knife, which he used to injure himself, inside the distribution center that Duncan had stolen from the house on Eastdale Road.

Duncan was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries not thought to be life-threatening, according to police.

He is being held at Baltimore County Detention Center with bail set at $350,000. He faces charges including burglary, theft, destruction of property, trespassing and five counts of false imprisonment.

A trial is scheduled for April 12.

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