Aberdeen, MD: Man kills himself after assaulting, shooting girlfriend in Aberdeen

Police in Harford County say a man shot himself to death after assaulting and shooting his live-in girlfriend in a home near Aberdeen early Saturday morning.

After the victim and one of her daughters had fled the home where the assault took place, a second daughter remained barricaded in a bedroom and was later gotten out safely. The assailant killed himself before police found him inside the home, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.


Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday, sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call that a woman had been assaulted and shot by her live-in boyfriend the 1300 block of Tralee Circle.


Investigation at the scene determined that the victim had fled her residence to a neighbor's house along with her adult daughter, age 22.

The 48 year old female's injuries were treated at the scene by medics from the Abingdon Fire Department before she was transported to University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, the sheriff's office said in a news release. The woman had already been released from the hospital as of mid-afternoon Saturday, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The mother told deputies that a second daughter, age 25, was still in the home with the assailant. Deputies were able to make contact with the daughter, who had barricaded herself in an upstairs bedroom away from the assailant, according to the sheriff's office news release.

By 4:15 a.m., 25-year-old had been extracted without incident from a window by members of the Harford County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team.

At approximately 5 a.m., the Harford County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team made entry into the residence and located Elroy Emilio Cole, age 45, in an upstairs bedroom. He was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the sheriff's office.

Monica Worrell, spokesperson for the sheriff's office, said the 25-year-old was not a hostage and had barricaded herself in the bedroom while Cole was in another part of the house. "When the deputies went into the home, they found he [Cole] had killed himself," she added.