Crime & Safety
Report: Eldersburg Shooter Felt ‘Picked On’
Jacob Bircher, of Westminster, faces charges in last month's Eldersburg double shooting.
A Westminster man who faces 18 charges in a double shooting in Eldersburg took “offense” to what someone else said to him the evening police said he fired his gun at a group of people, according to a report in the Carroll County Times.
Jacob Bircher, 24, of Westminster was indicted on 18 charges in the incident, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The shooting occurred in the parking lot of Harvest Inn on Liberty Road in Eldersburg just after midnight July 13.
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Police said witnesses reported that Bircher had been talking with a group of about a dozen people standing on the parking lot before he allegedly drew a handgun and started shooting.
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, was sent to Shock Trauma with a gunshot wound to the arm.
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According to the Carroll County Times report, Bircher went to the bar and had a few beers after an argument with his girlfriend. While there, he said it felt like he was being “picked on” and he “took offense” to a comment someone else made to him, according to the report.
It was after that police said the shooting in the parking lot occurred.
Bircher surrendered to police just after 7 a.m. July 13 in a church parking lot in Westminster.
State police said they recovered a .40 caliber pistol from Bircher’s car, which was parked at the home of his girlfriend’s mother in the 1600 block of Gemini Drive, Eldersburg, not far from where the shooting occurred.
The gun was legally registered to Bircher.
On Monday, attorneys for Bircher filed several motions in the Circuit Court for Carroll County, including a motion for discovery of expert opinions, motion to suppress evidence, motion to sever counts and a motion for a speedy trial, according to online court records.
Bircher is being held at the Carroll County Detention Center.
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