On December 28, 2016, a domestic dispute in Chestertown, Maryland, ended with a fatal exchange of gunfire that left 52-year-old James L. Rich II dead and a Queen Anne’s County deputy critically wounded. Deputies were first called that evening after Rich’s girlfriend texted her father asking him to summon police following a physical altercation. When Deputy First Class Warren Scott Hogan and another deputy initially arrived, Rich and the girlfriend were gone; the girlfriend had been taken to the sheriff’s office by her father.

After midnight, Deputy Hogan accompanied the girlfriend and her parents back to the Edmore Road home so she could collect belongings. Rich and his teenage son were at the residence; an argument erupted and Rich retrieved a shotgun from a back room and fired at Deputy Hogan at close range. Both Rich and Deputy Hogan were shot in the subsequent exchange. Rich was taken to Chester River Hospital and pronounced dead; Deputy Hogan was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition.

The Maryland State Police investigated at the request of the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office and concluded Rich fired first. No other suspects were identified and no arrests were made. Did anyone in the Chestertown area witness the events that night or have information about what led up to the confrontation?