UPDATE (Aug. 19): The pedestrian is being identified as Georgia Louise Floyd of Columbia.
The driver is being identified as PFC Matthew Mehrer, an 18-year veteran of the Howard County Police Department. He remains on standard administrative leave.
ORIGINAL RELEASE: Howard County police are investigating a fatal collision involving an HCPD officer and a pedestrian early on Aug. 15 in Columbia.
At approximately 6:45 a.m., the on-duty, non-uniformed officer was exiting a parking space in the 6400 block of Dobbin Road (Dobbin Center) in an unmarked police vehicle (a 2019 GMC Acadia) when it struck a pedestrian walking in the travel portion of the parking lot. The pedestrian, a 93-year-old woman, was transported to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where she was later pronounced dead.
The investigation is ongoing; preliminarily, investigators do not believe speed was a factor.
The officer, assigned to the Technical Support Section, has been placed on standard administrative leave. More information will be released at a later date.
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