4 dead including 2 children following brief Pa. police pursuit, crash near Smithsburg, Md
RINGGOLD, Md. — Four people, found with gunshot wounds in a car that crashed off Ringgold Pike on Thursday afternoon, have died, Maryland State Police said.
State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said police believe they know who the two adults and two children in the car were based on the description of the vehicle involved in a short Pennsylvania pursuit and other incidents in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
But Russo would not confirm whether the four people found in the car are former Baltimore County Police officer Robert Vicosa, the two daughters he kidnapped earlier this week in Pennsylvania, and Tia Bynum, a Baltimore County police officer suspended from the department earlier this week.
The Vicosa case: Second police officer charged in abduction of two York County girls
A frantic search: Police, mother begged former Baltimore County police officer to release daughters safely
Timeline: Police say missing sisters' kidnapping began with violent assault of their mom
Russo said the identities of those in the car would not be released until next of kin is notified. She also reiterated the complex nature of the investigation.
At the scene of the crash shortly after Russo spoke Thursday night, Maj. Scott Keyser with the Hagerstown barrack reiterated the complexity of the incident.
“I know there’s probably some fear or uncertainty out in the community,” Keyser said. "I can tell you we feel very confident that fear and concern should be eased now."
Pennsylvania State Police contacted Maryland State Police as they were attempting a traffic stop on a car matching the description of a vehicle involved in a Baltimore County incident, according to a separate email from Russo. The car was approaching the Maryland state line, heading south towards Waynesboro, Pa.
Maryland State Police were waiting for the suspect's car, Russo said during a news briefing televised on WJZ-13.
Shortly after the car crossed into Maryland, it went off Md. 418, also known as Ringgold Pike, and crashed into a fence near Mace Energy Supply, Russo said in a later interview.
Mace is at 23327 Ringgold Pike between Misty Meadow Road and Rinehart Road, almost a mile south of the Pennsylvania state line. That area is north of the Misty Meadow Farm Creamery.
Russo said in a phone interview that there was no physical contact between law enforcement vehicles and the suspect's car when the latter crashed.
Police surrounded the car, trying to contact the occupants, according to Russo's email. Around 2:30 p.m. a crisis negotiation team tried several times to contact the car's occupants.
With no response and low visibility inside the car due to a thick layer of smoke inside, police entered through the passenger side and found four people — all with apparent gunshot wounds.
The female driver and a man and a child in the backseat were pronounced dead at the scene, the email states. The second child, who also had been in the backseat, was flown to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown, where the child was pronounced dead.
As of 7:15 p.m., state police crews were still at the Ringgold scene, working under tents and tarps with lights on.
“Right now is the investigation. It’s underway. It’s a very complex investigation with a lot of resources, a lot of avenues. So it’s one of those things. It’s just going to take time,” Keyser said.
“We had a lot of resources put into this. We would have hoped for a better outcome,” he said.
Russo said that stretch of Ringgold Pike won't reopen until the investigation there is complete.
David Herbst, co-owner of Misty Meadow Farm, said he heard there might be someone armed in the area. Some of the traffic from the incident, which he estimated was about a mile away, was being diverted by the farm, he said.
The farm doors are locked, as they usually are, but the farm's dairy store was still receiving walk-up customers, he said.
Herbst said an emergency services official who stopped by the farm told them to expect the road to be remain closed until close to midnight due to the investigation.
What are neighbors saying?
Jay Thompson who lives on Barkdoll Road said he initially thought there was a big crash on Ringgold Pike when he first saw all the emergency vehicles.
“It’s crazy,” he told a USA Today Network reporter. “I mean it looked like Christmas, there were so many lights.
"Man, it’s pretty big news for this sleepy little town,” he said.
Denise Henry, who lives on Smithsburg Pike, was walking a dog on Barkdoll Road on Thursday afternoon. She said she was surprised by the turn of events, noting she had been picking up bits and pieces on TV about the Vicosa case.
Henry said she was on her way to nearby Leitersburg when the crash happened, but saw numerous police vehicles heading in the opposite direction.
Outside his home on Barkdoll Road, Robert Hahn said the news of the kidnapping illustrates how "fragile" life is.
He had been out bowling earlier in the afternoon and returned home to see police activity at the bottom of the hill his road sits on.
At first he thought it might be connected to a police training exercise he said he saw nearby earlier in the day. After learning about what was really going on, he and his daughter became concerned about what students — including his grandson — on the school bus that would soon pass through might see.
His daughter called her son's elementary school to ask that the bus avoid the area, he said. His daughter was not available to talk to a reporter.
Waynesboro Area School District reported that Pennsylvania State Police advised the schools to go into lockdown because of the unrelated incident, according to the district's website. The district said later that the lockdown had been lifted and to expect a delay in students being transported home.
No Washington County Public Schools were officially locked down, according to a school system spokeswoman.
Greg and Kim Smith drove over near the scene from their home in Smithsburg.
This is a quiet, family-oriented area, Kim said while looking out at the scene from Barkdoll Road.
"Nothing like this ever happens in this area."
"When something like this happens, it comes from somewhere else," Greg added.
The Smiths came to see the aftermath after Greg and his daughter encountered police activity while driving through the area earlier. Their daughter has a learner's permit and was practicing being behind the wheel.
He described "30 to 40" police vehicles driving past them. What appeared to be an armored vehicle pulled up and a number of uniformed people jumped out, then gathered to talk, Greg said.
Weather in Ringgold stormy
A cold front with rain moved through the Ringgold area around 5 p.m. Thursday, and peak gusts were expected to hit around 30 mph to 40 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Hofmann said.
It was expected to remain breezy after that, with the temperature dropping quickly from what had been a warm day to the 40s by 10 or 11 p.m., Hofmann said.
Asked about the weather, Keyser said, “We’re good at this.” MSP has the tools and resources to do the job, despite the mess, he said.
About 4:40 p.m., a USA Today Network reporter said a Maryland State Police forensic sciences van arrived, along with a pickup marked "Crash Team."
Earlier, a reporter said Maryland and Pennsylvania state police helicopters were hovering over the area.
Two ground ambulances have driven away, he said, both with lights on but no sirens and not very quickly.
USA Today Network reporters Julie E. Greene, Mike Lewis, Teresa Boeckel, Amber South and Dave McMillion contributed.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Multiple emergency vehicles near Ringgold Pike and Misty Meadow Road
