On the morning of Friday, December 13, 2024, 33-year-old Benjamin Billings was driving a white Chevrolet Silverado in Finksburg, Maryland, with a colleague, David Anderson, in the passenger seat. At about 7:44 AM, multiple gunshots were fired into the vehicle. Billings was struck and pronounced dead at the scene; Anderson suffered a gunshot wound to his left arm and was taken to Sinai Hospital.

Investigators from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office say the shooting was not random. Anderson gave detectives names of people he believed might have targeted them, focusing the inquiry on 30-year-old Austin Paul Potocki of Hanover, Pennsylvania. Detectives allege Potocki planned the attack because of a business dispute and a potential civil lawsuit Anderson had initiated. It is believed Anderson, not Billings, was the intended target.

Authorities say the shooter lay in wait at the Wesley Road and Patapsco Road intersection, fired multiple rounds from an AR-15 style .223 rifle, then fled to a staged vehicle. No shell casings were found at the scene, and investigators conclude a device was used to collect ejected casings. On December 23, 2024, Potocki was arrested in Hanover; an AR-15 .223 rifle and discarded shell casings were recovered during searches.

If anyone has information about Benjamin Billings, his movements that morning, or the area near Wesley Road and Patapsco Road, please come forward.