On the morning of March 12, 2020, 21-year-old Duncan Socrates Lemp was shot and killed in his Potomac, Maryland home during a Montgomery County Police Department SWAT entry executed under a no-knock search warrant. The warrant followed an anonymous tip that Lemp, barred from firearm possession because of a juvenile record, had guns. Officers recovered three rifles, two handguns and what was described as a booby trap on the exterior of Lemp’s bedroom door intended to discharge a shotgun shell on entry.

Accounts of the shooting diverge sharply. Police say officers announced themselves, gave commands and fired after Lemp refused orders and pointed a rifle at an officer outside his bedroom window. Family members and their attorney say Lemp was asleep with his girlfriend in the room when officers opened fire from outside without prior warning; an eyewitness said commands were not heard until after Lemp was already down. The girlfriend was reportedly injured.

The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated and in December 2020 declined to bring criminal charges, finding the officer’s use of deadly force justified; no body camera footage of the shooting was available. The family has filed a federal civil lawsuit alleging excessive force and defects in the warrant.

If anyone knew Duncan, his movements that night, or has information about the entry and the alleged booby trap, please share what is known.