At 12:30 p.m. Jan. 27, Charles County Sheriff’s Officers responded to a residence in the 5800 block of Opaleye Court in Waldorf for the report of a shooting.
Upon arrival, officers discovered a 45-year-old male victim who lives at the residence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to Prince George’s Hospital Center, where he remained in critical condition as of Sunday night.
Officers also discovered a deceased female victim, Tora Lynn Coates, 38, later identified as an off-duty Prince George’s County police officer who also lived at the residence.
The circumstances regarding the shooting remain under investigation, however it appears Coates shot the man and then shot herself, police say. Police are refusing to release the identity of the male victim.
The male victim dialed 911.
Coates is the sister of former Calvert County Sheriff Vonzell Ward, and was a spokeswoman for PG police during the DC sniper shootings. Her most recent post was the Internal Affairs Unit for Professional Responsibility.
“This is the last person you’d ever expect it would happen to … She was an extremely nice lady,” said a neighbor at the scene, adding that no one in the neighborhood knew of any problems whatsoever in the household.
Nearly six hours after the shooting neighbors were still standing around outside in shock, sharing their stories with news media.
A Channel 9 TV cameraman said Coates had worked with the television news many times. His contacts at PG Police were shocked, they just couldn’t believe any of this happened involving her.
Police are not saying where Coates self-inflicted wounds are, or where the male victim’s wounds are.