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Washington • A man accused of shooting at a Maryland police station to provoke officers was diagnosed as bipolar and was intermittently homeless after his mother kicked him out of the house at age 16, his legal guardian said Tuesday.
Michael Ford, 22, remained hospitalized after he was shot during the gunbattle with police Sunday afternoon outside a station in Landover, a Washington suburb. Prince George's County Detective Jacai Colson, who was wearing civilian clothes when he began firing back at Ford, was inadvertently killed by one of his fellow officers, the county's police chief said.
Ford's two brothers — Malik, 21, and Elijah, 18 — drove him to the police station and used cellphones to record video of the firefight, according to police.
A court document provided to The Associated Press on Tuesday by prosecutors said that during the shooting, officers asked Malik and Elijah Ford, who were sitting in a car, where the shooter was. The document said Malik Ford shouted he didn't know, even though video shows he could see his brother hiding behind a police van.
The three brothers face numerous charges including attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Michael Ford has not been formally charged.
Prince George's County police Chief Hank Stawinski said he couldn't explain the "frightening" actions of the shooter or his brothers.
"It doesn't make any sense," Stawinski said.
Hyacinth Tucker, 40, the owner of an event-planning business in Hyattsville, became Michael Ford's legal guardian when he was 16 after his mother kicked him out, she said. Tucker said that Ford, who was a high school friend of her son's, received Social Security disability payments because of his bipolar disorder. She said his checks were sent to her house and that she helped him with doctor visits and other paperwork.
"He's been through some tough times," Tucker said. "There were some times he didn't eat" because he couldn't afford food, she said.
Tucker also hired a lawyer for him after he was charged with gun possession in neighboring Montgomery County in 2013, a charge later dropped.
Tucker said she spoke by phone with Ford last week and he told her he needed to see her in person, but she said she didn't have time to meet him. She said he stopped by her house Saturday, but she wasn't home.
Tucker said Ford had a difficult relationship with his mother, and she said Ford's two brothers were also forced to leave the family home when they were teenagers.