Md. Firefighter Returns Home After Shooting
April 24--A Sykesville firefighter injured last week in a shooting during a service call in Prince George's County returned home today.
Kevin Swain, 19, who grew up in Sykesville and serves as a firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Sykesville fire company, as well as a live-in member at the Morningside Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George's, had been in Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore since April 15.
Swain was with a group that responded to a home to check on a man's safety after being contacted by a concerned family member, Prince George's fire officials said at the time.
When Swain and others arrived on the scene and received no response from the man inside, they attempted to force their way in, police said. That's when an individual inside of the home fired several rounds, hitting Swain four times and killing paramedic John Ulmschneider; the man who had made the initial call for the check was also shot.
On Saturday night, Dennis Beard, a spokesman for the Sykesville fire company, said doctors determined Swain was well enough to return home.
"I visited him earlier today, and he was doing exceptionally well," Beard said Saturday.
Swain's fellow Morningside firefighters picked him up at the hospital in a company engine, Beard said, and Sykesville firefighters met the group in Howard County to escort him to his home.
"He's got a lot of recovery," Beard said. "But he didn't have to go to rehab. He'll be able to rehab at home."
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Copyright 2016 - Carroll County Times, Westminster, Md.
