No Charges Filed In Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting In Gaithersburg

GAITHERSBURG, MD — State investigators on Wednesday released a report into a fatal officer-involved shooting of a Germantown man, who threatened a Montgomery County officer with a kitchen knife. No charges will be filed in the case.

The encounter happened July 20, 2022, when Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Domenic Mash, along with nine other task force officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, were serving an arrest warrant for Hamed Ghorouni Delcheh, 35, in the 100 block of Garth Terrace in Gaithersburg.

The officers found Delcheh inside a townhome and positioned themselves outside. After several minutes, according to officers, Delcheh threw a large kitchen knife out of the home’s front window, then jumped out and picked up the knife. One officer used his Taser, but Delcheh ran up the street past Deputy Mash, who followed him.

Authorities said Delcheh then turned toward Mash with the knife raised, and the deputy fired at Delcheh, striking him. Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived, but Delcheh died at the scene. No officers were injured.

Because the involved officer was assigned to the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force at the time of the shooting, the Independent Investigations Division investigated the case in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney and the Howard County State’s Attorney have an agreement to review officer-involved civilian deaths in each other’s jurisdictions. The IID and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office agreed an interim report would be useful in this case because all aspects of the investigation were final other than the ballistic analysis to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a news release said.

The IID forwarded its interim investigative report to the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office on March 1, 2023. That office notified the IID on June 2 of its decision not to prosecute the case. The IID will supplement its report when it receives ballistic analysis from the FBI.

The IID’s interim report contains detailed investigative findings and an analysis of relevant legal issues. Authorities said the FBI had no role in the creation of the IID’s interim report, or its legal analysis.

The report does not make any recommendations as to whether any charges should be filed because the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office has prosecution authority in the case.

A copy of the IID’s interim investigative report can be found here.