Pittsville, MD Shooting of Sheriff's Deputy

20-year-old Delmar man Austin Jacob Allen Davidson faces his bail hearing today for the fatal shooting of 41-year-old sheriff’s deputy Glenn Hilliard on Sunday, reports the Baltimore Sun. “Wanted on four outstanding arrest warrants,” Davidson had started to flee Hilliard when he was spotted outside a Pittsville apartment complex, and shot the 16-year law enforcement veteran with a laser-sighted semiautomatic handgun, according to Sheriff Mike Lewis. CNN confirms Hilliard died of his injuries at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional Hospital in Salisbury.

Two hours after the 8:25 PM shooting, Davidson cut the manhunt short by surrendering to police, states the Baltimore Sun. CNN records his newest charges as “first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime,” for which he has been held without bail at the Wicomico County Detention Center. He will be represented by a public defender.

The Baltimore Sun additionally brings up criticism on the leniency of Davidson’s armed robbery sentencing in July 2020—a crime which netted him probation before judgment and a suspended jail sentence. Republicans Sheriff Lewis and Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan blamed the lack of Democratic support for harsher gun crime penalties, states the Baltimore Sun, though the office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has defended its position by holding that the decision came down to the judge, not the prosecution.