Judge: Suspect who shot trooper, deputies is 'extreme danger'

Suspect told arresting officers: 'I did it ... I tried to take a life. I did the shootout,' authorities say

Suspect told arresting officers: 'I did it ... I tried to take a life. I did the shootout,' authorities say

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Suspect told arresting officers: 'I did it ... I tried to take a life. I did the shootout,' authorities say

A Cecil County judge on Monday called the man accused of shooting a state trooper and two sheriff's deputies an extreme danger to the public and ordered him to remain held without bail.

A Maryland state trooper and two Cecil County sheriff's deputies are recovering after they were shot early Sunday morning while responding to a burglary call in Port Deposit, police said.

The suspect, Daniel Padraig Colin Donnelly, 23, of Elkton, faced a judge on Monday for a bail review on 19 criminal counts that include three charges of attempted first-degree murder. Donnelly attended the court hearing via video link from the Cecil County Detention Center.

Donnelly's public defender sought cash bail, telling the judge that her client "is diagnosed with certain psychiatric disorders."

The Cecil County assistant state's attorney prosecuting the case pushed back, saying this wasn't a crime of opportunity. Prosecutors told the judge this was "a very complex ambush he only did because he couldn't kill the first person he wanted to kill."

At the hearing, it was revealed that Donnelly is a homeless, DoorDash driver who allegedly confessed to the "ambush shooting."

Prosecutors told the judge that Donnelly initially set out to kill a man who lives in the unit block of Twin Lakes Road but arrived to find no one home, so he pivoted to "Plan B."

According to court proceedings and documents, Donnelly staged a break-in at the home, asked neighbors to call 911, stole a shotgun, hid in the wood line and fired at the officers as they stepped into range.

According to charging documents obtained by 11 News, the trooper was struck by a bird-shot pellet in the right knee, a deputy was struck by 52 pieces of bird-shot pellets from head to toe, and the second deputy was struck by five pieces of bird-shot pellets and shrapnel to his arm, face and abdomen.

No shots were fired by the deputies or trooper, police said.

"They went through the residence, they didn't see anything, it wasn't until two sheriff deputies and the trooper went into the backyard, that they were fired upon multiple times by the suspect, who then fled into a nearby wood line," Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo told 11 News on Sunday.

Authorities said Donnelly allegedly broke into a church and stole $30 before he tried to get a ride at the nearby Royal Farms store on Jacob Tome Memorial Highway in Port Deposit about 3/4 of a mile away from the scene of the shooting.

Troopers arrived and took Donnelly into custody. Authorities said Donnelly waived his Miranda rights and told the arresting officers: "I did it," and, "I tried to take a life. I did the shootout."

Both deputies and the trooper who were shot were taken to hospitals and remain on administrative leave. The trooper has since been released from the hospital.

State police said investigators executed a search warrant at the house and found a shotgun.

If convicted on all 19 criminal charges in this case, Donnelly could face a total maximum penalty of three life terms, plus almost 400 years in prison. His next court date is in early June.