On the afternoon of Friday, May 15, a man later identified as 68-year-old Larry James Simpson of Glen Burnie committed multiple shootings and carjackings at five locations across the northern portion of Prince George’s County. Greenbelt schools and others in the area, including University of Maryland, were placed on lockdown. Greenbelt resident and off-duty Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) Officer Matthew Inzeo who says he was driving his personal vehicle and was unarmed, observed one of the carjackings and began to track Simpson, relaying his location to his wife, Domenek Inzeo, also a PGPD officer.
Simpson’s Actions
On May 15, at approximately 2:30 p.m., officers received a call about a man pointing a long gun out of his car window in the 5100 block of Pierce
Avenue in College Park. Witnesses reported the man, who was later identified as Simpson, fired several shots. No one was reported injured at that location.
A short time later, Simpson shot at a car with a 64-year-old man inside on Riverdale Road at the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Riverdale. A bullet struck the car’s window, and the driver suffered lacerations to his head as a result, though he was not struck by the gunfire. He was transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Minutes later, Simpson’s car struck another vehicle at 67th Avenue at Patterson Street in Riverdale. This collision caused Simpson’s car to overturn and he exited his own car and carjacked a nearby Nissan. During the carjacking, Simpson shot at a minimum of four victims at that location. One man was struck by the gunfire and was critically injured. That man is expected to survive his injuries.
At this time Inzeo was off-duty and travelling in his own personal vehicle on his way to pick up his children from school. His wife texted him to warn him of a person who was shooting in the area.
Witness and Follow
Simpson was carjacking a woman, whom he shot at according to the PGPD report, stealing her Toyota at Kenilworth Avenue and Good Luck Road in Riverdale. As he was driving, Inzeo witnessed the carjacking, though he didn’t see or hear shots. “I saw the lady being carjacked,” Inzeo told the News Review, and she reminded him of his mother, who lives nearby. “I didn’t know much of the before facts, that there were other incidents,” said Inzeo. “I didn’t think I was going to chase him.” However, that’s what Inzeo did, following the man and relaying his location and direction to his wife, who transmitted the suspect’s location in real time to officers and partner law enforcement agencies across the county.
When Simpson reached Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) School on Edmonston Road in Greenbelt he attempted but failed to carjack a Honda in the 9000 block of Edmonston Road. Then he turned his attention to Inzeo and tried to carjack him. “We were close enough to have a conversation,” Inzeo told the News Review. “He said, ‘Come here; give me your car!’ I shouted, ‘No!’… or maybe something stronger,” recalls Inzeo. Simpson then fired at Inzeo, who ducked. Then Inzeo drove his car onto the grass. “My intention was to stop the threat,” said Inzeo, who turned his car around in the grass and headed back in the direction of Simpson. At that point armed Park Police were arriving on the scene and Inzeo yelled to them, “That’s the guy! That’s the guy!” Simpson turned his rifle on the three Park Police officers but it’s believed he was out of bullets and he dropped it. Inzeo said he and the Park Police officers ran toward Simpson and apprehended him.
He Couldn’t Get Away
“I know they say it’s heroic,” said Inzeo about his pursuit, “but I just felt like he couldn’t get away.” Which is what he told his chief when he asked why he did what he did. “I couldn’t let him go. I couldn’t let him get away with it.” Inzeo said he later learned the two rounds fired at him were the final rounds in the AR-15 style rifle that Simpson had been using, but that he had another weapon with him. So, it was a good thing he didn’t get any further, reflected Inzeo, who said it seemed like Simpson may have been trying to shoot as many people as possible.
As he was in pursuit, Inzeo said he was thinking how it could end and hoping his wife would be there or would have been able to send backup for him. “And she came through,” he said.
In all, the chase was only a few minutes long for him, beginning at Kenilworth and Good Luck, to where Simpson did a u-turn, driving the wrong way back up the 495 ramp, and turning into Edmonston Road, where DKFI is located. Inzeo’s chase lasted only a few miles to DKFI, which he said he initially reported as Greenbelt Middle because that’s what the school was when he himself attended it.
Schools Lock Down
Several area schools near the various incidents were placed on a lockdown, which Prince George’s County Public Schools initially reported to be: Beacon Heights Elementary School, Berwyn Heights Elementary School, Paint Branch Elementary School, Greenbelt Middle School, Greenbelt Elementary School, Bladensburg High School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Later the lockdown was lifted for all but Greenbelt Middle and DKFI (which was on lockdown but not included in the PGCPS announcement). Neighboring Springhill Lake Elementary, which dismisses students at 1:40 p.m. each afternoon, was not in session and not placed on lockdown.
During dismissal, which is 4:10 p.m. for DKFI and Greenbelt Middle, numerous officers, including Greenbelt police, were on the scene, Edmonston Road remained closed, and DKFI students were moved to the middle school to be released to parents from that school building, in the direction of Franklin Park rather than Edmonston. Though delayed, buses were able to pick up students from both schools.
Off-duty Role
Several people have asked Inzeo why he wasn’t carrying a gun with him, he says. After two decades as an officer, even his children think of him as “Officer Inzeo” he says, and so he’s been trying to leave more of that behind as he focuses on being “dad.” Inzeo will celebrate his 20-year anniversary with Prince George’s County Police Department in July. His wife has been an officer for 19 years.
“It worked out,” says Inzeo. “It was good teamwork.”
Speaking after Simpson’s apprehension, PGPD Chief George Nader called the off-duty officer’s efforts vital and brave. Though he didn’t name the officer, Inzeo has since identified himself as the officer. “The bravery to follow someone that’s armed with an AR-15 rifle that you know has already shot at people and to continue to follow him … and he even after [Inzeo] was shot at — he was unarmed but still understood the magnitude of this incident and the threat to the community ‒ still engaged with the apprehension with the United States Park Police. I’ve not seen bravery like that in my 33 years of service,” said Nader.
Simpson in Custody
Simpson was transported to the hospital for treatment of injuries that police believed occurred during the car crash in Riverdale, when his vehicle overturned. He has since been released from the hospital and is in the custody of the Department of Corrections. He is currently charged with 66 offenses, including 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 16 counts of attempted second-degree murder and related charges, and more charges may be pending. Simpson also has a significant criminal history, including a 1983 Beltsville murder (see separate story below).
Detectives would like to speak to witnesses with information relevant to this case as well as hear from any additional victims. Anyone who has information and would like to speak to a Gun Crimes Unit detective, call 301-772-8960.
Simpson, 68, Was Serving Life For Beltsville Murder; Released 2023
Larry James Simpson, the 68-year-old man facing 66 charges, including 16 counts of attempted murder for his armed crime spree in the area on Friday, May 15 (see article above), had already been sentenced to life plus 40 years for a Beltsville murder, attempted murder and attempted rape and robbery.
1983 Murder
Maryland court records reviewed by the News Review show that in 1987 Simpson was convicted of first-degree murder, three counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault with attempt to murder, rape and rob. These charges stemmed from a break-in at a Radio Shack store in Beltsville in 1983, when Simpson was 25. Simpson’s arrest came four years after the Beltsville killing, when Simpson had been identified with the help of another man whose fingerprints were found at the electronics store after the killing. By 1987, Simpson was already serving a sentence of 10 to 30 years for robbery at a maximum-security facility in Virginia and had to be extradited to Prince George’s County to face the charges, according to reporting from the Washington Post that year. The man who was killed in the robbery was 21-year-old store employee John Allister Parker. Simpson was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
Attempted Escape
Following his conviction in 1987, Maryland court records show Simpson attempted to escape from the Prince George’s County Detention Center. The Washington Post reported that at night, four inmates scaled a 12-foot brick wall in the outdoor recreation yard, pried open loose metal fencing above it and went through the eight-foot chain-link fence on top. They then fled to further perimeter fences. Three, including Simpson, were quickly recaptured inside the grounds but the fourth escaped and was apprehended almost 24 hours later, walking north along Ritchie- Marlboro Road near Brown Road, according to the Washington Post.
Appeals and Release
Court records show Simpson had post-conviction hearings in 1989, 1997, 1998 and in 2022 he led a motion requesting drug and alcohol evaluation, which was granted and he was transferred to the Department of Health. In October 2023 he was released; his life-plus-40-years sentence was modified to all but 35 years, 5 months and 1 week suspended. Simpson is now being held without bond and will appear in court in June.
