Police Name Suspect Fatally Shot By Officer In White Marsh On January 31

WHITE MARSH - The Independent Investigations Division has released the identity of the man who Baltimore County Police fatally shot on January 31 in White Marsh.

37-year-old Brian McCourry Jr., of Essex, died of his injuries on March 3, more than a month after being shot by Baltimore County Detective J. Trenary during an altercation on Pulaski Highway.

The incident remains under investigation by the Office of the Attorney General and the Independent Investigations Division.

What happened?

According to police, just before 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday, January 31, detectives with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Criminal Apprehension Support Team were surveilling a Kia SUV with two passengers in the 10700-block of Pulaski Highway in White Marsh. Police say they followed the car because the driver had multiple outstanding warrants.

The detectives performed a “vehicle block” to stop the SUV from fleeing and exited their police vehicle to apprehend the suspect. The suspect swerved to escape from the vehicle block, striking an unmarked police vehicle in the process.

Officials said that Detective J. Trenary discharged his firearm an undisclosed number of times, striking the driver of the Kia SUV. The SUV continued driving through the parking lot before crashing into an unrelated civilian vehicle.

Trenary, a 16-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police department, has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

Baltimore County Police Department policy forbids officers from shooting at a moving vehicle, except “when the occupants of another moving vehicle are using or attempting to use deadly force against an officer, and the safety of innocent persons would not be jeopardized.”

The exact circumstances of the shooting may be challenging to determine. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Detectives within the Baltimore County Police Department’s Criminal Apprehension Support Team do not wear body-worn cameras, and the police vehicles involved in the incident were not equipped with dashboard cameras.