Officer deemed justified in fatal shooting of barricaded man

SILVER SPRING, Md. – Prosecutors have concluded that a Maryland police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who barricaded himself and his 3-year-old son inside his ex-girlfriend’s townhouse and began lighting fires.

Howard County State’s Attorney Dario Broccolino’s office reviewed the July 23 shooting of Jean Carlos Natera-Perez before determining Montgomery County Police Officer Edward Cochran’s actions were justified. Police announced prosecutors’ decision in a statement Wednesday.

The statement says an officer responding to a reported assault saw Perez with blood on his clothes and holding a knife at his ex-girlfriend’s Silver Spring home.

The statement says Perez refused to leave the home or release his son before starting fires. After the child began screaming, Cochran shot Perez through a bedroom window.

Perez died two days later. His son was unharmed.