Man killed, Queen Anne's deputy wounded in gunfire exchange

Queen Anne's County sheriff's deputies were called to a domestic disturbance at the Chestertown home of James Rich II, 52. Rich's girlfriend, who had been staying at the home, sent her father a text message asking him to call authorities because she and Rich had been in a physical altercation, police said. The father called 911, but when Deputy 1st Class Warren Hogan and another deputy arrived, both Rich and his girlfriend were gone. The woman's father had taken her to the sheriff's office, police said.

Investigators are still piecing together a timeline, but it looks like the gunfire exchange was very quick, occurring within a matter of "seconds," Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said.

Hogan was taken to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, where he is in critical condition after surgery.

Hogan was wearing body armor, but was hit below the armor, he said.

Photos from the scene show police tape in front of a one-story home with Christmas decorations out front, including an inflated Santa Claus atop a chimney and a snowman.