Police Charge Man in Eldersburg Double Shooting with First Degree Murder

A on Liberty Road in Eldersburg just after midnight Friday, July 13 left one man dead and one at Shock Trauma. The suspect surrendered without incident in Westminster at approximately 7 a.m.

After consulting with the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, Maryland State Police said they charged Jacob Bircher, 24, with first degree murder, second degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and attempted second degree murder.

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Bircher was taken to the Carroll County Central Booking Center where he is awaiting an initial appearance before a court commissioner, police said.

David J. Garrett, 36, of the 2100-block of Carmae Rd. in Sykesville was pronounced dead at the scene. Gary Hale, 25, of the 3500-block of Granite Rd. in Woodstock, continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the arm at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore police said.

Bircher surrendered to police just after 7 a.m. in a church parking lot in Westminster. State police said they 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 police said. Police said witnesses reported that Bircher had been talking with a group of about a dozen people standing on the parking lot before he withdrew a handgun and started shooting.

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