Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 1

Maryland Police Shoot 28-Year-Old Carjacking Suspect After She Hits Officer, 3 Vehicles

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 1

Maryland Police Shoot 28-Year-Old Carjacking Suspect After She Hits Officer, 3 Vehicles

Q: How did a suspect manage to continue her violent carjacking spree even after being shot by police?

She appears to have kept going because the police gunfire did not immediately incapacitate her. Authorities said Cooper was struck by at least one round but suffered a non-life-threatening wound, reported in coverage as hitting her arm or shoulder. Injuries in those areas can be serious without instantly causing a driver to lose consciousness or motor control. The body-camera footage and police statements show that after officers ordered her out of the stolen car on Pioneer Drive, she accelerated toward them, hit an officer, two patrol cars and another vehicle, and was shot as she drove away. Despite that, she remained able to steer the car onto Reece Road before crashing near Telegraph Road. That sequence is consistent with a well-known reality in police shootings: being shot does not necessarily stop a person immediately, especially if the wound does not strike vital organs or the central nervous system. A person can continue moving, driving or resisting for seconds or longer, particularly under stress or adrenaline. In this case, police have not said she was instantly disabled, and the fact that both she and the struck officer were treated for non-life-threatening injuries supports that the gunfire wounded her but did not physically prevent her from continuing. The spree ended only after a later crash, when police said she got out and allegedly tried to enter another occupied vehicle before detectives took her into custody.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 1

Body-camera footage released Monday shows 28-year-old Jasmin L. Cooper driving at Anne Arundel County officers in Glen Burnie on May 7, after which police opened fire and wounded her.
Police said Cooper had first crashed her own car, then forcibly took a family member’s vehicle; when officers found her on Severn, she ignored commands, pulled out, and struck an officer, two patrol cars and another vehicle.
Additional officers later saw her turn onto Reece Road, crash again near Telegraph Road, and try to break into another occupied vehicle before she was arrested.
Cooper now faces carjacking, attempted carjacking, reckless endangerment and assault charges, while both she and the struck officer were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.