Vest Saves Baltimore Detective
On July 24, 2000, Detective David F. Azur, an eight-year veteran of the Baltimore, Maryland, Police Department, and Detective Raymond A. McTamany, of the Baltimore County Police Department, were assigned to the Regional Auto Theft Task Force, a partnership between their agencies. After a stolen vehicle was observed in the North Avenue area of Baltimore, Azur and McTamany joined other task force officers in pursuit. Operating in unmarked vehicles, the two detective teams initiated a stop. McTamany took control of the driver of the stolen vehicle and Azur moved to control the passenger.
"I placed the passenger against the stolen vehicle," Azur recounted later, "and I placed his left hand onto the roof of the car. When I attempted to place his right hand on the roof he immediately reached towards his waist or his right front pants pocket. I pinned the suspect against the vehicle, my chest against his back, at which point he reached around his body with his right hand under his left arm and, at point blank range, fired a .38 special into my chest. . . . Neither my partner nor I ever saw the weapon before the suspect shot me."
The round struck Azur in the left upper torso on the soft trauma plate of his PACA protective body armor. He was transported to a hospital where he was treated for a severe bruise and released later the same afternoon. The attending physician determined that the detective's vest had prevented a fatal gunshot wound.
The suspect fled the scene of the shooting on foot, with McTamany in pursuit. After a brief standoff with police, the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The officers did not discharge any weapons.
Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley visited Azur while he was being treated at the hospital. Mayor O'Malley said afterwards, "This [survival story] is a great advertisement for why officers should always wear bulletproof vests."
Article written by:
Anna Knight, IACP/DuPont Kevlar Survivors' Club Administrator, and
Chief ron McBride (Retired), Law Enforcement Consultant
