Baltimore’s police commissioner says he is reassessing security after an
armed gang member walked into a police station.
A member of the Black Guerrilla Family gang walked inside a Baltimore police station on Tuesday armed with a .22 caliber gun to test security, according to police.
Jason Armstrong, 29, admitted to police that he was following orders from the gang.
Armstrong drew attention to himself because he was behaving in an odd manner and smelled like marijuana. When officers confronted and searched Armstrong, they found a loaded .22, as well as cocaine and marijuana.
“We are really lucky, for a person walking into a police station fully armed and loaded with guns on him, that it did not end up in a terrible situation,” said Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, according to CNN.
The man was allegedly sent in by gang members as punishment for crossing the gang in the past.
“An organized gang in the city of Baltimore sent an armed suspect into our building to see our security, to test our security. That is alarming to us,” Batts said. “In light of other incidents that have occurred in other cities, it has raised our level of concern.”
Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriquez said the man was in a “dire” situation and did not enter the police station of his own “free will.”
Batts says he plans to meet with federal agencies, such as the FBI, to discuss security issues.
“We’re not going to cower, we’re not going to back down, we’re not going to shy away from tough situations,” he said. “We are going to be a Constitutional police department while we keep this city safe and continue to patrol the streets of the City of Baltimore.”
Security has been tightened throughout the department as a result of this incident.
