On the morning of Friday, December 13, 2024, 33-year-old Benjamin Billings was driving his white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck in Finksburg, Maryland, with a colleague, David Anderson, in the passenger seat. As they approached the intersection of Wesley Road and Patapsco Road at approximately 7:44 AM, multiple gunshots were fired into the vehicle. Billings was struck and pronounced dead at the scene, while Anderson sustained a gunshot wound to his left arm and was transported to Sinai Hospital.
Investigators from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office quickly determined that the shooting was not a random act of violence. The passenger, David Anderson, provided detectives with the names of individuals he believed might have targeted them, leading the investigation to focus on Austin Paul Potocki, a 30-year-old man from Hanover, Pennsylvania. Potocki had a business relationship with both Billings and Anderson through his pool company, Austin's Pool Service. Evidence suggested that a potential civil lawsuit initiated by Anderson against Potocki was the motive for the attack. It is believed that Anderson, not Billings, was the intended target.
Detectives believe that Potocki planned the shooting, lying in wait for Billings and Anderson to pass through the intersection. It is alleged that he fired multiple rounds from an AR-15 style. 223 rifle and then fled on foot to a vehicle he had staged nearby. Despite an extensive search of the crime scene, no shell casings were recovered, leading investigators to conclude that a device was used to collect them as they were ejected from the weapon.
On Monday, December 23, 2024, Austin Paul Potocki was arrested at his home in Hanover, Pennsylvania, by detectives from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the West Manheim Police and the York County Quick Response Team. During a search of his residence and storage facilities, authorities recovered an AR-15. 223 rifle and discarded shell casings that Potocki had apparently attempted to destroy. Potocki was taken into custody in York County, Pennsylvania, as a fugitive from justice, with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office holding a warrant for murder and other related charges.
