Police: Theft suspect shot by resident in Silver Spring

SILVER SPRING, Md. - A suspect was shot after being confronted by a resident who reported to police that a vehicle was being broken into at his Silver Spring neighborhood early Wednesday morning.

Montgomery County police say officers responded to the 14000 block of Twig Road at around 3:18 a.m. Wednesday for a reported theft. When they arrived, police were flagged down by a resident on Rossiter Court who told them he had fired several gunshots with his handgun at three suspects in the area. The suspects fled the scene after the shooting.

A short time later, police located an 18-year-old male suspect suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower body on Elm Grove Circle after the 911 call center received a call about a person shot. He was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Two other teenage suspects were later located by police. They have been charged with theft while the injured 18-year-old is expected to face charges once he is released from the hospital.

"As far as Maryland goes, you have a right to defend yourself, but you also have to weigh that right versus what crime is being committed," said Montgomery County Police Officer Rick Goodale. "If you are being placed in bodily harm and that is something that we are looking at - to see exactly what transpired in this case [and] to see if any charges may be appropriate against the resident who fired the shot."