Crime & Safety
Officer Who Fatally Shot Suspected Bank Robber Identified: Batimore County Police
The sergeant has not fired during any other police-involved shootings besides Friday's bank robbery incident, Baltimore County police said.
TOWSON, MD — Police have identified the officer who fatally shot one of the suspects from a Pikesville bank robbery Friday as Sgt. Bortner. The Baltimore County Police Department does not provide the first names of officers due to an agreement with the police union.
Bortner, who has served the department for 20 years and had no previous shootings on record, shot the driver of a vehicle that was heading for him at a traffic checkpoint Friday afternoon, officials said.
After a bank robbery was reported at 1:08 p.m. at the Wells Fargo branch in the 1500 block of Reisterstown Road, authorities said they immediately cut off access to roads that were likely escape routes.
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At 1:20 p.m., Bortner saw a Ford Taurus leave the line of traffic stopped on eastbound Old Court Road. When the Taurus pulled out of the line and drove toward him, the sergeant shot at the vehicle and struck the driver through the front windshield, police said.
The vehicle continued on, crossing through the intersection of Falls Road before proceeding onto Ruxton Road and hitting a citizen's vehicle, which then crashed into another vehicle, according to police.
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The driver — Oddis Bernard Colvin Jr., 33, of the 8400 block of Winands Road in Pikesville — was pronounced deceased, according to police.
His passenger — Michael Eugene Stratton, 45, of the 500 block of West Presstman Street in Baltimore — sustained non life-threatening injuries and was charged with robbery, police said. Stratton was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail.
Inside the Taurus, officials said they recovered money and bank property from Wells Fargo in Pikesville.
Stratton was identified by police as"The Aviator," for whom the FBI had issued a lookout Thursday after he had allegedly robbed three banks so far this month.
As is standard procedure, Bortner has been placed on administrative duty as the department investigates the shooting.
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