\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Baltimore County police officer who was critically injured after being shot in Pikesville less than two weeks ago was released from the hospital.Officer P. Catalfamo was shot in the head and was released from Shock Trauma late Wednesday night surrounded by family and fellow officers.”He was released last night. There was a large gathering of us last night to be there at the hospital when he was released,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM and 101.5 FM.Police officials said Catalfamo has since demonstrated remarkable strength, determination and resilience, which comes as no surprise to those who know him best. Fellow officers who attended the academy with Catalfamo described him as someone with a contagious smile, a positive attitude and an unwavering willingness to support others.”His positive attitude is infectious, and the way he has faced this challenge has been nothing short of inspirational,” one officer said, according to a police statement. “The same strength and character he showed in the academy are the same qualities carrying him through his recovery. I am proud to call him a friend and brother.”Family said Catalfamo was active in the Boy Scouts while growing up and carried many of those lessons and values into adulthood and his career as a police officer.The chief said Catalfamo will next transition to rehab.”I just want to thank my officers for all the hard work that they do every day to keep the citizens of Baltimore County safe and this region, in terms of our task force and stuff like that,” McCullough said.Catalfamo was shot in the head on June 7 while responding to a call in Pikesville for a man exposing himself on the Gwynns Falls Trail.According to charging documents, three Baltimore County police officers responded to a call about a man exposing himself in the park. Police said officers found Shaka Kamara, 38, who took off running. During the chase, Kamara is accused of shooting Catalfamo in the head.According to police, Kamara ran toward the parking lot where he found a man and woman walking. He then robbed the man of a firearm he was legally carrying before using it to shoot at another responding officer. Police said the officer returned fire and it was during that exchange that both Kamara and the robbery victim were struck.”A lot of these cases, people are in mental crisis and they do other things. Whether he tried to draw us there or not, we don’t know at this point. What we do know is once we got there, we investigated it and it turned sideways really quick,” McCullough said.Court records show Kamara was convicted of an armed carjacking in Baltimore City in 2016; he’s due back in court in July.I mean, carjacking, you know, that’s bad enough, but then he feels like he can just go out and, and by all indications, he attacked this MTA police officer, actually knocking the officer out. And, he gets six years and hardly serves any of that time and he comes out again, and now, he tries to actually kill a police officer.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tTOWSON, Md. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n