Police Brutality / Individual record
Spencer McCain
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Spencer McCain in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-06-25 in Owings Mills, MD. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-200
- Incident date
- June 25, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Owings Mills, MD
- Agency
- Baltimore County Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 41
What happened
Spencer Lee McCain, 41, was fatally shot by three Baltimore County police officers inside his Owings Mills, Maryland, home on June 25, 2015. Officers arrived after a report of domestic violence and heard a woman screaming from inside. They entered the residence and encountered McCain. Police said his movements made them believe he was about to produce a weapon, and the three officers fired at least 19 shots. Investigators later acknowledged he was unarmed. Family members brought federal litigation challenging the shooting and police tactics. A 2021 federal court opinion summarized the allegations and procedural history but did not mean that the plaintiffs' entire version had been proven. The central confirmed fact is that officers used lethal force against a man who had no weapon in his possession.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 567
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- unarmed
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 128
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset