Reward offered in Durham after shots fired at on-duty officers sitting in unmarked car

Two law enforcement officers working an investigation escaped injury Saturday night when the unmarked car they were sitting in was fired upon, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

The shooting prompted Sheriff Clarence Birkhead to announce a $5,000 reward for information leading to “an identification and arrest in connection to the incident.”

It was at least the third reported shooting in Durham County on Saturday, when Durham city police said two young men were fatally shot and four others injured in two separate shootings earlier in the day.

The incident with the officers happened around 9:30 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release Monday afternoon.

The release did not say whether one or both of the officers, who were on duty, worked for the Sheriff’s Office or another law enforcement agency.

The officers were in the area of Keystone Place and Dearborn Drive in northern Durham when at least two male subjects fired multiple rounds, striking the vehicle and nearby homes, the release stated. No one was injured, it stated.

“This gun violence cannot go on and has to stop,” Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said in the release. “Innocent people who were sitting in their homes and enjoying a Saturday evening with family could have been seriously injured or killed.”

Anyone with information about this incident, the suspects or their whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 919-560-0900 or the Criminal Investigations Division at 919-560-0880. The public can also call Crimestoppers at 919-683-1200 with information and can remain anonymous.

2 men killed in earlier shootings

The Saturday night shooting was one of at least three shooting incidents that day:

▪ Tylen Wesley Baldwin, 21, was killed and two others injured around 7:30 p.m. Saturday on West Woodcroft Parkway, according to the Durham Police Department.

▪ Daniel Slack, 22, was killed around 1:30 a.m. Saturday in the area behind the South Square shopping center, according to police. Two other were injured in that shooting as well.

Police had not announced any suspect or arrests in either shooting as of early Monday evening.

This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Reward offered in Durham after shots fired at on-duty officers sitting in unmarked car."