Trooper shot during traffic stop on Maryland’s Eastern Shore identified

VIENNA, Md. - Authorities identified the Maryland State Police trooper who was shot during a traffic stop Monday night near an Eastern Shore truck weigh station.

The shooting was reported shortly before 10 p.m. during a traffic stop on eastbound Route 50 near the Vienna Scale House in Wicomico County.

Officials say the trooper approached the vehicle with three men inside when the driver pulled a weapon and fired, striking him several times. The trooper returned fire, but officials say no one in the vehicle was struck.

Another trooper responded to the scene and the injured officer was transported to a nearby hospital.

Officers from the Delmar Police Department tracked down the vehicle to the 600 block of Elizabeth Street in Delmar where they say the driver crashed into two vehicles before striking a tree.

Police say they surrounded the vehicle and found the driver, identified as 23-year-old Keiford Lee Copper, III, of Trappe, Maryland, slumped over the wheel with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities say a gun was recovered from inside the vehicle.

Shortly before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, two unidentified men were found walking around a neighborhood in Hebron and were taken into police custody. Those two, who police said were the other occupants of the vehicle, were cooperative with police and were not charged in the incident.

The trooper involved in the shooting, was identified on Friday, as Sergeant Brooks Phillips, an 18-and-a-half-year veteran.

He was hospitalized after the shooting, but has since been released. Sergeant Phillips currently remains on administrative leave.

The investigation is continuing.