Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) released bodycam video of an officer-involved shooting that occurred when officers were trying to serve a temporary protection order in October (video below).
The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 when DC police officers tried to serve a temporary protection order on 30-year-old DeAndre Johnson in an apartment located in the 1300-block of Congress Street, SE, near Oxon Run Park, WTOP reported. h
MPD Chief Robert Contee said that a few days earlier, Johnson had threatened a woman who lived in the apartment and held a gun to her head.
Police later seized a weapon from a vehicle that belonged to Johnson, WTOP reported.
“There is a prior history of domestic violence between Mr. Johnson and the female victim,” Chief Contee said.
Officers who went to the apartment determined that Johnson should be arrested for domestic assault on the woman, WTOP reported.
Chief Contee said that Johnson “became aggravated” and was screaming at the woman so officers placed themselves between the two.
“One of the officers began to place Mr. Johnson in handcuffs,” the police chief said. “Mr. Johnson resisted, resulting in an intense physical struggle.”
He explained that the officer’s bodycam video was activated and deactivated several times during the altercation, WTOP reported.
Chief Contee said shot were fired during the struggle after Johnson grabbed an officer’s gun.
“He’s got my…” the officer can be heard saying on the bodycam, according to the police chief.
“This really unfolds very, very rapidly once the struggle starts, and I think most people will see that when the body-worn camera video is released,” Chief Contee said. “It is very quick.”
He explained that the bodycam video “does not clearly capture all aspects of the struggle,” WTOP reported.
Johnson was shot twice in the back.
He was pronounced dead at the apartment.
The officer-involved shooting is being investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, WTOP reported.
DC police will conduct their own internal affairs investigation after the external investigation is completed.
The officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.
Black Lives Matter organized a vigil with Johnson’s family in the wake of the shooting and called for justice, WUSA reported.
“We want answers,” April Goggans said. “Not the answers you gave everybody else, we want the answers. We want proof of the answers.”
Although MPD released the bodycam video, officials have not yet identified by name the officer who shot Johnson, which was supposed to be released to the public within five days, WUSA reported.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content and Obscene Language:
Holly Matkin
