Man Who Shot Himself on the Beach Last Summer

SNOW HILL - On April 10 th , 2018, Ibrahima Diallo, 19, of Frederick, MD. was found guilty of having a handgun on his person, possessing a firearm by a minor, and illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition after having been disqualified, after a jury trial before the Honorable Judge Brian Shockley in the Circuit Court for Worcester County.

On June 9 th , 2017, members of the Ocean City Police Department responded to the 75 th Street Medical Center to meet with an individual who had reportedly been shot in the leg. Initially, Mr. Diallo informed the Ocean City Police Department that an unknown individual had shot him. Mr. Diallo later retracted that statement and gave a written statement to the Ocean City Police Department stating that he had in fact shot himself and lost the handgun somewhere on the beach. As a result, the Ocean City Police Department closed a vast section of the beach and performed an extensive search of the sand in an attempt to recover the handgun.

The handgun was never recovered despite the massive search.

At trial, Mr. Diallo’s defense was that his original statement was true, and he had in fact been shot by a friend, but not wanting to incriminate his friend, he contrived the story of shooting himself.

Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Bourdon argued to the jury that Mr. Diallo’s argument defied logic, and the jury agreed.

Interim State’s Attorney, Bill McDermott stated, “Mr. Diallo tried to game the system. He thought he could lie to The Ocean City Police Department and use smoke and mirrors on a Worcester County Jury – he obviously underestimated both.”

Mr. McDermott praised the hard work of Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Bourdon in trying what was a difficult case due to the Defendant’s attempts to circumvent the truth, and The Ocean City Police Department, specifically, Detective Carl Perry and Sgt. Greg DeGiovanni for their exceptional investigation.

Sentencing has been deferred pending a pre-trial investigation. McDermott noted that the State would also attempt to seek restitution for The Town of Ocean City for the resources they deployed searching the beach.