HollyMatkinWashington, DC – The Washington Metropolitan Police Department ended a standoff with a knife-wielding man outside a hospital on Monday, when an officer tased the suspect from behind (video below).
The incident occurred at approximately 2:20 p.m. on April 23 in front of George Washington University Hospital, after officers responded to a call for an unnamed man who was threatening people with a knife near the intersection of L and 23rd Streets NW, WTTG reported.
Cell phone footage from captured by a witness at the scene showed a man in a multi-colored shirt standing outside the building’s large windows. He appeared to be yelling at several officers, who had formed a perimeter around him at a safe distance.
In the video, on the left side of the frame, an officer could be seen staging inside the blue entryway of the Bluestone Lane coffee shop.
The video showed that when the knife-wielding suspect focused his attention on the officer in front of him, the officer inside the coffee shop crept stealthily through the entryway door, and out onto the sidewalk behind the suspect.
The officer swiftly moved in behind the oblivious suspect, and deployed his Taser, the video showed.
In the video, the man yelled as his body tensed, then he fell backwards onto the pavement immobilized.
A swarm of police rushed in, and the suspect readily offered his hands up to the officers, the video showed.
Metropolitan police said that no one was injured during the encounter, WTTG reported.
The department was been the subject of a use-of-force study in 2017, and a report released in January showed that Metropolitan police have seen an increase in use-of-force reports, but a decrease in actual shots fired, WTOP reported.
The change has been partially attributed to officers in DC recently being equipped with Tasers on the street.
The new Tasers have the ability to activate officers’ bodycams when they are pulled from their holsters, WTTG reported.
You can see the video of the incident below: