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Diane Richardson
Media Relations Office
(301) 609-6557
On May 2 at approximately 1:40 p.m., School Resource Officer Cpl. S. Cook received a report of a man in a wheelchair with what appeared to be a gun in the vicinity of Benjamin Stoddert Middle School. The school was immediately placed in a “shelter-in-place,” meaning no one could enter or exit the building and all doors were locked. Patrol units responded and Sgt. D. Arends located the suspect, Cornelius Reginald Knott, 49, of Waldorf, on Village Street and St. Thomas Drive. He was carrying a pellet gun which had been altered to look like a handgun. Further investigation revealed Knott had purchased the pellet gun earlier in the day and removed the orange safety markings, although it is not immediately clear why. Knott was arrested and charged with disturbing the public peace and interrupting school operations. PFC M. Nauman is continuing to investigate.
Cornelius Knott
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service law enforcement agency comprised of more than 600 police, corrections and civilian personnel responsible for protecting more than 150,000 residents. The CCSO was accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in 2001 has been designated as a CALEA Gold Standard of Excellence agency since 2011. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.
Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.
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