Collin Hawkins used a gun to carjack a man in Baltimore

Collin Hawkins used a gun to carjack a man in Baltimore on Nov. 22, 2006, and was arrested less than a month later after shooting a city police officer in Northeast Baltimore, according to city police.
In connection with the shooting of the officer, Hawkins was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon and using a firearm in a violent crime, according to prosecutors. He also was convicted of carjacking for the Nov. 22 incident.
Federal authorities said Hawkins had been previously convicted in state courts on five drug-related arrests in five years. That made him eligible for the "three strikes" law that enables prosecutors to see a long prison sentence for his recent conviction.

"We pursued this case in federal court because, as a result of Collin Hawkins' criminal record, this conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison with no probation and no parole," Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. "Collin Hawkins will never again carry a gun, carjack or shoot anyone in Baltimore."
Hawkins was convicted by a jury after a three-day trial.
He was arrested in the shooting of Baltimore Police Officer Momodu Gondo, who was shot just after midnight Dec. 5, 2006, as the officer was getting out of his car at his home in the 5700 block of The Alameda. Police said two men, one armed with a gun, approached him.
The officer turned to flee, and Hawkins opened fire, striking him three times in the back, according to authorities. A police spokesman said Gondo returned fire before he fell to the ground. The officer was treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Gondo, who had graduated from the police academy in October, was wearing his police uniform and protective vest under an overcoat when he was shot.

Posted in: Baltimore