Baltimore City Police Officer did not use service weapon in murder-suicide
By Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun7:38 p.m. EDT, October 28, 2013
The Baltimore police officer suspected of killing a city firefighter and his girlfriend Sunday did not use his service weapon to shoot them, Anne Arundel County police said Monday.
Anne Arundel County police have not elaborated on a motive in what they’ve described as a domestic murder-suicide. Police believe Christopher Robinson, a four-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, went to the Glen Burnie home of firefighter Andrew Hoffman, who was dating Robinson’s ex-girlfriend, Marie Hartman, and killed them both before taking his own life.
Military officials said Monday that Robinson, a U.S. Marine reservist since 2000, held the rank of sergeant and was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialist. He had been awarded several medals, including the Good Conduct Medal.
Robinson’s family had said he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, but military officials said that is considered a non-combat environment and not an overseas deployment.
Baltimore police officials said on Sunday there were “no indications that a military deployment was the cause of this incident” but promised an “immediate review” to see if more could be done to assist officers who have been deployed in the military when they return to civilian life.
Lt. Eric Kowalczyk, a Baltimore police spokesman, declined to clarify that statement on Monday.
Lt. T.J. Smith, an Anne Arundel County police spokesman, said police would look into Robinson’s past but declined to provide further updates on the investigation. He also declined to comment further on the gun used except that it was not Robinson’s service weapon.
Robinson and Hartman had broken up a few months ago, family members said, and Robinson was having trouble moving on even as Hartman began dating Hoffman. Hartman’s stepfather has said that Hartman’s younger sister hid in a closet in Hoffman’s home as Robinson opened fire on the couple.
On Saturday night, Robinson had a date with another woman early in the evening, went home to Abingdon, and began texting his ex-wife about being frustrated because he did not know whether Hartman still had feelings for him, according to his brother Wayne Robinson.
But Christopher Robinson told his ex-wife, with whom he had remained friends, that he knew he needed to move forward, the brother said. “He had a date Friday night and a date Saturday night,” Wayne Robinson said. “It seemed like he was trying to move on and work his life out.”
Christopher Robinson last texted his ex-wife just past midnight, according to his brother. Police said the shooting took place about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
