SUSPECT CHARGED IN CARROLL CO. MURDER

(ELDERSBURG, MD) – Maryland State Police have filed charges against the suspect in an early morning shooting in Carroll County that left one man dead and another wounded.

The accused is identified as Jacob B. Bircher, 24, of the unit-block of Wimert Ave., Westminster, Md. After consultation with the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, Maryland State Police have charged him with first degree murder, second degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and attempted second degree murder. Additonal charges are possible. Bircher has been taken to the Carroll County Central Booking Center where he is awaiting an initial appearance before a court commissioner.

Bircher is charged in connection with the death of David J. Garrett, 36, of the 2100-block of Carmae Rd., Sykesville, Md, and the wounding of Gary Hale, 25, of the 3500-block of Granite Rd., Woodstock, Md. Garrett was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting at a restaurant and bar which occurred shortly after 12:00 a.m. today, in the 2000-block of Liberty Road, Eldersburg. Hale continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the arm at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

After arresting Bircher just after 7:00 a.m. today when he turned himself in on a church parking lot in Westminster, Maryland State Police homicide investigators continued the investigation by obtaining search warrants, processing evidence, and conducting additional interviews. Troopers recovered a .40 caliber pistol from Bircher’s car, which was parked at his girlfriend’s mother’s home in the 1600-block of Gemini Drive, Eldersburg, not far from where the shooting occurred. The gun was legally registered to Bircher.

A motive for the shootings remains unclear at this time. Preliminary information provided to investigators by witnesses indicates they were not familiar with Bircher, but that he had been talking with the group of about a dozen people standing on the parking lot before he withdrew a handgun and started shooting.

The investigation is continuing.