A manhunt for 33-year-old Charles Bennett, a man with an extensive criminal record, began after the fatal shooting of a Baltimore police officer. The incident that triggered the search for Bennett occurred on Saturday, July 3, 2004. Baltimore Police Officer Brian Winder, a 36-year-old and 10-year veteran of the force, was responding to a 911 call. During the response, he encountered two men and sought their identification, at which point he was ambushed and shot inside a liquor store. Officer Winder was struck three times and later died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
One suspect, 31-year-old Jermaine Gaines, was arrested at the scene of the officer's shooting. Gaines later implicated Charles Bennett as the one who shot Officer Winder. This led to a city-wide search for Bennett, who police described as a 'professional criminal.' A significant reward of $35,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The search was intensive, with law enforcement exploring the possibility that Bennett had fled the city.
The search for Charles Bennett came to a dramatic and fatal conclusion on the morning of July 7, 2004. Following a tip from a street informant, a city warrant task force and U.S. Marshals tracked Bennett to the Relax Inn motel on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore. As officers prepared to enter his room, using a master key provided by the motel staff, they heard a single gunshot. Upon entering Room 205, they found Bennett with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. No shots were fired by law enforcement officers during the incident.
