Lawyer: Maryland man killed by police officer while sleeping in bed.

A Maryland man killed by police officers during an early morning raid at the home he shared with his parents was asleep in bed when he was shot, according to the family’s lawyer. The Montgomery County Police Department in a new release on Friday said that Duncan Socrates Lemp was killed after he “confronted” officers attempting to serve a “high risk” warrant Thursday around 4:15 a.m. The 21-year-old’s girlfriend was also wounded in the incident.

Detectives at the time were following up on a tip from the public that Lemp, who is prohibited from possessing firearms, was in possession of several guns. Two handguns and three rifles were recovered from the Potomac home where the fatal shooting unfolded. Lemp’s family, meanwhile, argued he was “murdered” by police, who allegedly unleashed several rounds of gunfire from outside the home, they said in a statement. Nobody in the residence heard any warning or commands before police opened fire.

Authorities did not use a flash-bang or other projectile before shooting, they added. Rene Sandler, the family’s attorney, said police had “absolutely no justification” for shooting Lemp, who worked as a software designer, based on what she has heard about the incident so far.

“The facts as I understand them from eyewitnesses are incredibly concerning,” she said.

Sandler also noted the high risk warrant — which typically means officers don’t knock — obtained by authorities “makes no mention of an imminent threat to law enforcement or the community.” According to the family statement, no one in the house, where Lemp lives with his parents and 19-year-old brother, had a criminal record.

“Any attempt by police to shift responsibility onto Duncan or his family, who were sleeping when the police fired shots into the home, is not supported by facts,” Sandler said. The police department in a news release said the “facts and circumstances of the encounter” are still under investigation. Prosecutors from neighboring Howard County will review the evidence at the end of the probe.

“An established agreement between the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office stipulates that when an officer-involved shooting involving injury or death occurs in one county, the other county’s State’s Attorney’s Office review the event,” police said.

The officer who shot and killed Lemp, who is Caucasian, has not been identified.