Before shooting two police officers and leading authorities on a three-day manhunt across Baltimore and Harford counties, as police allege, David Emory Linthicum had long showed signs of disorder, bitterness about his circumstances and a predilection for illicit activities, according to public records, accounts from those who knew him and his social media profiles.
[Timeline: How the shootings and manhunt unfolded]
Linthicum, 24, faces charges on 11 counts, including attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed carjacking, according to court records. After being apprehended without gunfire early Friday in Harford County, he was in the custody of Baltimore County police, the department said Friday.
Authorities said Linthicum shot a police officer who was dispatched to the Cockeysville home that he shared with his father on Wednesday afternoon, and then shot a detective involved in the search for him Thursday evening. The officer was treated at a local hospital and released; the detective remained stable but on life support at Maryland Shock Trauma Center on Friday.
The details surrounding the law enforcement visit to the Linthicums’ home on Powers Avenue on Wednesday remain unclear, and Linthicum’s father, who made the call for help, declined to comment. The home was the scene of another violent incident 15 years ago, when Nicholas Browning, 15, shot and killed his parents and two younger brothers on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. The house where Linthicum lives is notorious locally.
[Documents: Father’s phone call prompted police visit]
Wednesday was not the first time that police had been to the Linthicums’ home, either. In 2019, both David Linthicum and his father were arrested, and in charging documents related to those cases police were able to verify John Linthicum’s phone number based on previous 911 calls. The substance of those calls was not disclosed in court papers, and police did not respond to a request Friday for a 911 call history for the address.
Baltimore County Police served a search warrant on Jan. 22, 2019, after receiving information that the father was sharing child pornography. John Linthicum was ordered out of the home by a SWAT team, and inside officers encountered David closed in his room in the back of the basement. Police wrote that he “did not want to exit the bedroom and disobeyed verbal commands to exit the room,” but was eventually detained.
Police said there was a large amount of marijuana in open view inside the bedroom, and David and his father were taken to the living room.
As police started to ask John Linthicum about his electronic devices, David said, “You shouldn’t answer his questions,” police wrote in charging documents. “John Linthicum then stated he knew why the detectives were there and he was not going to make things hard.”
In addition to the marijuana, police observed a large heat presser on a workshop table. Asked about the heat press, John Linthicum said it was “his son’s project,” according to court papers. In 2019, authorities charged David Linthicum with possession of drugs with intent to distribute. He received probation, according to online court records.
The elder Linthicum, meanwhile, received a two-year jail sentence that was suspended and probation for distribution of child pornography, records show.
Other records show David’s parents sparred over custody of their children in 2004, with an attorney appointed to represent the children’s interests. The court ruled in John Linthicum’s favor, online court records show.
Neighbors on Powers Road said they rarely interacted with the Linthicums. “They keep to themselves,” said Alex Halstead, who lives across the street with his wife and two young children.
Halstead said that he and his family frequently take walks through the neighborhood, but rarely saw David Linthicum. “My take is he’s not an outside-the-house kind of person,” Halstead said.
Several neighbors said they made a point to avoid the elder Linthicum because he is a registered child sex offender and the neighbors have young children.
Another neighbor who declined to give her name for privacy reasons said she was startled by David Linthicum’s ability to elude police. “How did he know how to do all of that?” she asked.
Friends of David Linthicum said he demonstrated limited social skills and exhibited concerning patterns in his teens. One acquaintance, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for his privacy, said the younger Linthicum garnered a reputation in high school for using drugs.
“He was always very quiet, very to himself, showed no emotion, or very little emotion,” the acquaintance said, adding that he sometimes would hang out socially with Linthicum and smoke cannabis with him.
The acquaintance said he recalled Linthicum facing discipline at The Jemicy School over questions about drugs. Representatives of the school, which serves students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences, did not respond to requests for comment.
The acquaintance also recalled spending time with David Linthicum at the Cockeysville house, where Linthicum kept knives and other weapons at the time. He remembered Linthicum had an affinity for the video game “Grand Theft Auto,” and had a collection of bongs and other devices used for smoking and using drugs in his bedroom.
“I could see how quiet and distant he seemed from other people,” the acquaintance said. “I don’t know what happened to him, but … I think [his] mental health finally cracked.”
Another acquaintance, who worked as a cashier with Linthicum while they were both in high school, said he remembers his coworker as aloof and mostly uncommunicative.
“I thought he might’ve had a troubled home life; he just didn’t seem happy,” the acquaintance said. “He didn’t go out of his way to talk much. He was very shy, very awkward.”
Online, Linthicum relied on a different persona.
In a Facebook review of The Odyssey School, which also serves students with learning differences from kindergarten through eighth grade, Linthicum was critical of his educational experience there.
“Costed my family a large amount of money for no reason. Thanks for wasting my time and causing more issues with my learning,” he wrote in the undated review. Representatives from the Odyssey School did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2014, Linthicum appeared to have posted a photo of a sticker on his computer depicting a person in a spacesuit pointing a gun. “Looks pretty good I think,” he wrote in the caption. In another photo from that year, Linthicum appeared to have posted an image of a bloodied deer, joking that a fox found it before he did.
Linthicum’s Instagram profile is private, but he posted a public message in his account’s bio section: “Silent... but deadly. Ps. You not invited to my funeral.”
Baltimore Banner reporter Julie Scharper contributed to this article.
