No Charges Filed Against County Cop Who Fatally Shot Finan Berhe

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Montgomery County police officer will not be charged for fatally shooting a man who came at him with a knife in a White Oak parking lot, prosecutors announced Friday.

The Howard County State's Attorney's Office, which investigated the shooting of 30-year-old Finan H. Berhe, said Sgt. David Cohen's use of force was legally justified and "reasonable under the circumstances." Montgomery and Howard counties have a long-standing agreement that when an officer-involved death occurs in one county, the other will review the event.

"The threat caused by Finan Berhe running directly at Sgt. Cohen with a large kitchen knife, as well as Berhe's nonresponsive actions to Cohen's demands to put the knife down, justified the use of deadly force," Howard County Deputy State's Attorney Chris Sandmann announced Friday.

On the afternoon of May 7, Montgomery County police received a call for a man holding a large kitchen knife who had chucked a rock through a resident's window on Hadden Manor Court.

Cohen, a 17-year veteran of the police department, was the first to arrive on the scene, according to the report released by prosecutors. The incident was video-recorded by a witness and the officer's body-worn camera.

According to the body-worn footage, Cohen pointed his gun at Berhe, ordering him to drop the knife and get on the ground numerous times. Ignoring the officer's commands, Berhe slowly walked backward toward the sidewalk.

Cohen could be heard saying, "I don't want to shoot you," then firing his weapon as soon as Berhe began charging at him.

Cohen shot Behre five times. Berhe collapsed, clutching his chest with his left hand and dropping the knife with his right. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

The report said Cohen's "response at the scene was a textbook example of how an officer should respond in this type of situation."

Echoing the report's findings, Howard County State's Attorney Richard H. Gibson Jr. on Friday said Cohen did what he could to diffuse the situation before resorting to lethal force.

"Those are the types of behaviors that we would hope to see. An avoidance of taking life to the degree that you can," Gibson said. "Once you do have to engage with lethal force, switching gears and trying to save the individual who you just had to act against."

Following Friday's announcement, the Silver Spring Justice Coalition planned a rally at Veterans Plaza in Silver Spring.

"Finan Berhe was a valued member of our community and his family and our community are still grieving," said Justice Coalition co-founder Katie Stauss. "The county did not and still does not value his life."