Two Dead, One Injured in Ellicott City Church Shooting

Howard County police swarmed into an Ellicott City neighborhood Thursday night, finding one woman shot to death and another injured inside a church office. They later found a man's body next to a gun in a nearby wooded area.

The injured woman was in “very critical condition,” according to Howard County police.

Police arrived in droves after a custodian at , 3695 Rogers Ave., called at about 5:20 p.m. to report finding two women shot inside an office in the building, according to Sherry Llewellyn, Howard County police spokeswoman.

One woman was pronounced dead at the scene; the other was taken to University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma center. “Her condition was described as ‘very critical,’” Llewellyn said at a press conference Thursday evening.

After police searched and secured the interior of the building, Llewellyn said, they found the body of a man in nearby woods, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

None of the victims was identified late Thursday.

Police said they were investigating the deaths as one case but "it's too early for us" to say what occurred at the church, according to Llewelyn.

Neighbors said they were stunned by the incident in a normally quiet neighborhood.

"I can't believe something like this is happening here," said Kelly Shaw, a court reporter who lives on the street. "It's so shocking."

At about 6:40 p.m. a witness described the scene, saying there were 20–30 police vehicles around the church.

An hour later, police cars parked in the middle of Rogers Avenue blocked the road, while dozens of marked and unmarked cars, SUVs and vans lined the streets surrounding St. Peter’s, which was also teeming with media and residents.

Andrea Mandato, a property manager, lives nearby.

"This has always been a very quiet town," she said. "Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims."

Sarah Goldsmith, in her 20s, lives across the street and said a friend heard a gunshot coming from the woods.

"It can happen anywhere," she said. "Somebody goes crazy, and who knows?"

She said her 5-year-old sister saw the police presence outside, walked into the room and said, "'There's a real bad man in the neighborhood.'"

Councilwoman Courtney Watson, whose district includes Ellicott City, called the incident “highly unusual” and told The Baltimore Sun she was sure the police department was “working diligently…to find out what happened and why.”

The shooting rocked a relatively peaceful part of town as police came out in force, including a SWAT team and a MedEvac helicopter, according to witnesses.  is a half mile from the Howard County government’s campus, which includes the .

Still, the neighborhood is not immune from criminal activity. Last April,  from the church. In , which was nonfatal, a 19-year-old Columbia man was critically injured after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at the Hilltop housing complex on Mount Ida Drive.

In September 2010, there was a , around the corner from St. Peter’s. The Ellicott City couple who died was reportedly in the middle of a custody dispute.

St Peter’s Episcopal Church has had a presence in Howard County for more than 150 years,according to its website. It describes itself as a diverse parish that is led by co-rectors The Revs. Kirk A. Kubicek and Dr. Mary-Marguerite Kohn.

With reporting by Patch editors Bruce Goldfarb and Brian Hooks.