On a rainy Sunday afternoon in March 2016, a chaotic and tragic series of events unfolded outside a Prince George's County police station in Landover, Maryland, leading to the death of 28-year-old Officer Jacai Colson. The incident began as an unprovoked attack when a man, later identified as Michael DeAndre Ford, started firing at the police station, passing cars, and even an ambulance.
The motive, as it would later be revealed, was a suicidal desire to be killed by police.
Colson, a four-year veteran of the force working as an undercover narcotics detective, was not in uniform and was driving an unmarked car when he arrived at the scene. He bravely engaged the gunman, exchanging fire in an attempt to stop the assault. In the ensuing chaos, with multiple officers responding to the attack, a fellow officer, Taylor Krauss, mistook the plainclothes Colson for an assailant and fired a single, fatal shot. An autopsy later confirmed that Colson was killed by friendly fire.
The investigation into the tragic event quickly led to the identification and arrest of three brothers. Michael Ford, the 22-year-old gunman, was taken into custody at the scene after being wounded. His two younger brothers, 21-year-old Malik and 18-year-old Elijah Ford, were also arrested. It was discovered that they had driven Michael to the police station and had recorded the entire attack on their cellphones, having even filmed their brother dictating his last will and testament just moments before the shooting began.
The legal proceedings that followed brought some measure of justice for the Colson family, though the pain of their loss remained immense. Michael Ford was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, with prosecutors arguing that his actions created the 'combat zone' that directly led to Colson's death. He was sentenced to 195 years in prison. His brothers, Malik and Elijah, pleaded guilty to related charges. Malik was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and Elijah received a 12-year sentence for their roles in the deadly ambush. A grand jury, however, declined to indict Officer Taylor Krauss in the shooting death of Jacai Colson. The Colson family later filed a civil lawsuit against Krauss and the county.
