Slain Baltimore homicide detective Sean Suiter was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury in the case against a squad of indicted officers, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis confirmed Wednesday evening.
Davis said he was recently informed of the information by federal prosecutors, and was told that Suiter was not a target of the investigation.
He also confirmed that Suiter is believed to have been killed with his own service weapon and said there was evidence of a struggle.
Suiter, an 18-year veteran of the city police force, was fatally shot Nov. 15 while investigating another killing in the notoriously violent Harlem Park neighborhood in West Baltimore.
Authorities are offering a $215,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Criminal justice analysts said that reward amount may be among the highest ever offered in Maryland.
Police have said Suiter was conducting follow-up investigation on a triple homicide in the 900 block of Bennett Place when he saw someone acting suspiciously in a vacant lot and approached. Suiter attempted to speak to the man, Davis said, and was shot in the head.
According to Fox News, “Davis said the shooter, who investigators suspect was wounded in the confrontation with Suiter, is likely in Baltimore. Police plan on keeping blocks of the West Baltimore neighborhood where the shooting happened cordoned off through the weekend because evidence is leading detectives to conduct searches there.”
Officials say Suiter was a Washington, D.C, native who lived with his family in York, Pennsylvania, about an hour’s commute from Baltimore, Fox reported.