Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld has identified the off-duty officer killed by another officer as a 65-year-old, 44-year veteran of the police department.
Bealefeld says Norman Stamp was shot after uniformed officers responded to a fight reported outside the Haven Place bar at Haven Street and Pulaski Highway, shortly after midnight.
According to Bealefeld the officers were trying to arrest the combatants when Stamp emerged from the bar armed with brass knuckles. Bealefeld says Stamp did not respond to an officer's order to stop. The officer fired a Taser, sending Stamp to the ground.
Stamp drew a handgun, and Bealefeld says the officer had "no recourse" but to fire two shots from his own handgun.
Stamp was struck by at least one bullet and died about an hour later at Shock Trauma.
Bealefeld says the brawl began after several young women entered the bar seeking employment. He says some people made comments about the women and the fight broke out. He adds that Stamp's role in the brawl has not been determined.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld says veteran officer Norman Stamp "was a mentor to some and a friend to many."
He says Stamp's shooting by a uniformed officer has led to "an incredibly difficult time" for the police force, but he says the people in the department will -- in his words -- "remain focused, vigilant and undaunted in our effort to make Baltimore safer."
Mayor Sheila Dixon says she spoke this morning with Stamp's widow and assured her that she had the city's support.
Fraternal Order of Police President Paul Blair says the union has been praying for Stamp's family, his wife and his daughter.
Baltimore Police say Wednesday marked officer Norman Stamp's 44th anniversary of service. Just minutes after the day ended, he was fatally wounded by gunfire from another officer at the scene of a bar fight.
Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld doesn't know if Stamp was celebrating his anniversary at the bar. Bealefeld says no other sworn officers were at the bar at the time, although he says a retired officer might have been present.
Police spokesman Sterling Clifford says Stamp had spent most of his career in the department's motorcycle unit and was later posted to the marine unit, which patrols the Inner Harbor.
Clifford says Stamp served on the boat longer than Officer John Torres had been with the force, and explains why Torres didn't recognize Stamp at the shooting scene.
Torres is a six-year veteran and has been placed on administrative duty.
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