Starting a new year usually involves resolutions or maybe just a bit of a hangover. For one 21-year-old man in Harford County, it started with a bullet. Around 3:00 AM on January 1, 2026, a vehicle pulled up to a Baltimore-area hospital. Inside was a young man bleeding from a gunshot wound to his upper body. It wasn't a drive-by. It wasn't a street fight. According to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the threat was already inside the car.
People in Maryland are used to seeing headlines about violence, but the details of this specific shooting in Edgewood MD are particularly jarring because of how intimate—and avoidable—the situation seems to have been.
The Chaos Inside the Car
Imagine you’re driving. You’ve got a friend in the passenger seat and three people you might not even know that well in the back. That was the scene on New Year's morning. The witness, who was driving the car, told deputies that everyone was just riding along through Edgewood when things went south.
One of the women in the back seat allegedly reached into her waistband. She pulled out a handgun. Then, the gun discharged.
Whether it was a deliberate shot or a tragic case of "reckless handling" is something detectives are still chewing on. What we do know is that the bullet ripped through the front passenger seat and hit the victim in the upper torso. It didn't stop there. Police later found a bullet hole in the dashboard on the passenger side.
The aftermath was pure panic. The suspect and the two other passengers in the back didn't stick around to help. They bailed out of the car somewhere in Edgewood before the driver could get the victim to the hospital. Honestly, the cowardice of leaving a bleeding person behind is what sticks with most people hearing this story.
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What the Investigation Revealed
When the Harford County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Criminal Investigations Division got involved, they didn't just take the driver's word for it. They got a search warrant for the car.
They found the gun.
It wasn't just any pistol. It was a loaded, "unserialized" handgun—what most of us call a ghost gun. These are the untraceable firearms that keep local law enforcement up at night. Finding one of these in a car where a 21-year-old was just shot changes the vibe of the investigation from a simple accident to a serious felony probe.
Key Evidence Found by HCSO:
- A loaded 9mm ghost gun (unserialized).
- A spent bullet recovered from the vehicle's interior.
- Ballistic damage to the passenger-side dashboard.
- Physical evidence collected by the Forensic Services Unit.
The victim survived, which is a miracle in itself, but he told deputies he couldn't—or perhaps wouldn't—identify the people in his own backseat. That’s a common hurdle in these cases. Fortunately, by the first week of January, detectives had already identified a female suspect. Charges are currently "forthcoming," which is police-speak for we are finishing the paperwork before we make the arrest.
A Pattern of Violence in Edgewood?
You can't talk about this New Year's incident without acknowledging that Edgewood has had a rough run lately. Just a week before this, on Christmas Day 2025, there was another shooting in Edgewood MD.
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In that case, a 32-year-old man named Marquis Gaskins was shot in the abdomen on Dearwood Court. The police moved fast on that one. They tracked down a 37-year-old named Kenneth King Jr. near the Bel Air Bypass just hours later. They found him wearing the same clothes seen on surveillance video. He’s currently sitting in the Harford County Detention Center without bail.
Then you have the December 30th shooting on Topview Drive. A man was shot multiple times by a group of four suspects. Two of them, Ronald Scaife and Deonte Copenhaver, were quickly identified. Scaife was caught in Baltimore, but Copenhaver remained on the run for a bit.
It feels like a lot. Because it is.
Why This Matters for Harford County
When you look at these incidents, a pattern emerges that isn't about random "stranger danger." In almost every recent shooting in Edgewood MD, the parties knew each other.
- New Year’s: Suspect was in the victim’s car.
- Christmas: Police say the parties were known to each other.
- Dec 30: Targeted encounter.
This suggests that while the headlines look scary, the general public isn't usually the target. These are often interpersonal disputes that escalate because someone has a gun they shouldn't have. The rise of "unserialized" firearms in these reports is the real red flag.
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The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has been pretty vocal about this. Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler has frequently pointed to the influx of illegal firearms as a primary driver of local violence. When guns are untraceable, people feel bolder.
Moving Forward: What You Can Do
If you live in the area or have family there, "staying safe" isn't about hiding in your basement. It's about being aware of your surroundings and, frankly, being careful about who you let into your space—or your car.
Actionable Steps for Residents:
- Use the Tip Lines: If you know where Deonte Copenhaver is or have info on the New Year’s shooter, call 1-888-540-8477. You can stay anonymous and even get a $2,000 reward.
- Doorbell Cameras: In the Hanson Road and Dearwood Court cases, doorbell footage was the "smoking gun" that helped catch the suspects. Ensure your firmware is updated and the lens is clean.
- HCSO App: The Sheriff’s Office releases "official" info much faster than the local news. Download their app to get real-time alerts so you don't rely on Facebook rumors, which were famously wrong during the Candlewood Court incident last year.
The investigation into the New Year's Day shooting in Edgewood MD is still technically open. We’re waiting on the formal naming of the suspect and the specific charges. Until then, the community is left wondering why a night of celebration had to end with a ghost gun and a trip to the ER.
Stay vigilant. If you see something that doesn't feel right on your block, don't wait for a headline to prove you were right. Call it in.