A man is dead after being shot by a D.C. police officer in an odd confrontation that remained under investigation Wednesday morning.
A man is dead after being shot by a D.C. police officer in an odd confrontation that remained under investigation Wednesday morning.
According to police, someone called 911 after seeing the man asleep in a car in the middle of traffic around 3 a.m. by New York and Florida avenues in Northeast.
“Officers responded to that location for an individual who was unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle at a traffic light,” Police Chief Robert Contee said.
Contee added that responding officers noticed the man had a gun in his waistband.
8.25.21 Chief Contee provides briefing on New York Ave NE Officer Involved Shooting https://t.co/fesaqG2ScJ
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) August 25, 2021
After eventually being able to wake the man up, Contee said there was some kind of confrontation between the man and the officers, prompting one of the officers to fire his gun.
“Shots were fired by a police officer, striking the individual,” Contee said. “He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased.”
Four or five officers responded to the scene but it appeared that only one of them fired.
Investigators were reviewing body camera footage that was captured during the incident, though an initial review of the footage did not provide a full and clear look at what happened as the camera was partially obstructed by an officer’s bullet shield, according to Contee.
“There was some kind of direction given by one of the officers and then you hear the shots being fired,” Contee added.
New York Avenue NE by North Capitol Street. New York shut down in this area due to police investigation. @WTOP @WTOPtraffic pic.twitter.com/kwAC3FkJEJ
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) August 25, 2021
After being shot, the man drove his car for a few blocks before crashing into a tree on New York Avenue near North Capitol Street.
Several streets, including a large stretch of New York Avenue, were closed as part of the investigation Wednesday morning, leading to a very difficult morning rush hour.
“Because the shooting occurred at one location and the vehicle came to rest at a different location, we had to close down a lot of streets in the area,” Contee said.
New York Avenue reopened shortly before 9 a.m. It was closed for about five and a half hours.
This was the second police-involved shooting in 24 hours. The other happened on Minnesota Avenue in Southeast Tuesday afternoon.
A map of the area is below.
WTOP’s Colleen Kelleher and Matt Small contributed to this report.
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