MANHUNT NARROWS IN MD. TROOPER'S DEATH

The undercover drug buy that turned fatal for a Maryland state trooper in
Northeast Washington last night was a planned operation and investigators
are closing in on the suspected shooter, police said this morning.

The trooper, Edward M. Toatley, 37, a father of three, was shot about 8:40
p.m. at Queens Chapel Road and Douglas Street, a neighborhood about a mile
from the boundary between Prince George's County and the District.

"As you know, the shooter is still out there," Col. David B. Mitchell,
state police superintendent, said at a press conference this morning. "I am
confident that we are closing in on the identity of the person who murdered
Eddie Toatley and hope and pray that he will be brought to justice without
any further loss of life."

Toatley was a seasoned undercover investigator and the buy he was making
was fairly routine, with backup officers in place and a planned target,
officials said.

"Drug buys are extremely dangerous and volatile," Mitchell said. "Ed
Toatley has made dozens and dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of
hand-to-hand drug buys, during his career."

"This was not an instant case where an offer was made and Eddie accepted,"
Mitchell said. "This was planned, mapped out...all the troops knew the
mission...knew the position of the person who murdered Eddie."

But even with other members of the Safe Streets task force­FBI agents,
Prince George's County Police and perhaps a video surveillance van­nearby,
something went wrong when Toatley was with the suspected dealer.

Toatley was in his car with a suspect in the 2000 block of Douglas Street
NE, in the Langdon Park area, said Sgt. Joe Gentile, a D.C. police spokesman.

State police said it does not appear that the gunman knew Toatley was an
undercover officer. "Things happened last night that show [the suspect] did
not know Ed's identity as a trooper," Mitchell said.

The passenger of the car pulled out a handgun and shot Toatley before
running from the scene, police said.

"The immediate concern was Eddie's condition," Miller said. As the
accompanying officers rushed to aid their colleague, the shooter made his
getaway.

Toatley, a trooper for 16 years, was taken by ambulance to the trauma unit
of Washington Hospital Center, where he died shortly after 11 p.m.,
Mitchell said.

D.C. police are heading the investigation in their territory and are
expected to release the identity of their suspect today, Mitchell said.

"You can run, but you can't hide," Mitchell said to the shooter. "No matter
where you are, we'll find you."

Mitchell said he had recently had lunch with Toatley and talked about this
investigation. Toatley told Mitchell the agency would be pleased with the
results of their three-month operation.

Mitchell vowed that the investigation that took Toatley's life will not
slow down because of his death. "If anyone dealing drugs out there thinks
this will stop our resolve, they are sadly mistaken," he said.

Toatley's family was at his bedside last night as a Catholic priest
administered the last rites.

His wife, Inez, a civilian employee of the state police, was "devastated"
and "in a deep state of shock." He was the father of an 18-year-old son, a
5-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter, Mitchell said.

Toatley, who was president of the Coalition of Black Maryland State
Troopers, was part of a task force investigating drug activity in a zone
embracing parts of Takoma Park, Prince George's County and the District of
Columbia.

As part of the three-month investigation, which was initiated by the state
police and involved the FBI, Mitchell said the trooper had been involved in
making "hand-to-hand" drug buys. Last night, as the investigation was
"wrapping up," Mitchell said investigators were arranging to make a buy.

According to one account, Toatley was struck in the head by at least one
bullet.

The shooting sent platoons of officers from several agencies flooding into
the neighborhood where it occurred, which is near Bladensburg Road and
between New York and Rhode Island avenues. Dogs and a helicopter also were
used in an effort to locate the trooper's assailant.

In the past, authorities had created an interagency task force of officers
from the District and Prince George's County to make arrests in the
corridor along Eastern Avenue, which forms part of the boundary between the
District and Maryland.

Toatley and the officers working with him on such task forces were
deputized as federal agents, giving them powers to cross jurisdictional
boundaries to make arrests, Mitchell said.

In one of the more recent fatal shootings of a member of the state police,
Trooper 1st Class Edward A. Plank was slain in 1995 after a traffic stop on
the Eastern Shore.

"Eddie [Toatley] was very proud of what he did," Mitchell said. "The world
is a better place because of him, and he wanted to make it so. He knew
firsthand the dangers and the consequence of unchecked drug use and abuse
right here in our state. He loved working undercover, and frankly he was
one of the best, if not the best."

Mitchell addressed his troopers last night and told them to "live up to the
example" Toatley set. Mitchell said Toatley was the 38th Maryland state
trooper killed in the line of duty.

"It never gets any easier," he said, "and it is never routine."