D.C. police have identified the man shot and killed by a D.C. officer early Monday after the officer thought the man's BB gun was a semi-automatic weapon.
The man has been identified as Peter John, 36, who has no fixed address, D.C. police said Tuesday night.
John died after he ran from an officer, slipped and a weapon fell from his clothing, D.C. police said. That weapon was later determined to be a "replica of a semi-automatic handgun," D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
The incident began when an officer tried to stop John, who police said was acting suspiciously about 2 a.m. Monday on the 5300 block of Clay Terrace NE. John ran and slipped on the pavement, and then the weapon appeared, police said. The officer told him not to reach for the gun, police said. When he did, the officer opened fire and shot him in the neck.
John was taken to a hospital, where he died. The officer was not injured.
D.C. police intentionally fired their weapons 15 times in 2015. Twenty percent of the time, it happened in Clay Terrace.
In March, a D.C. officer shot a man on the 5300 block of Clay Terrace who was suspected of robbery. In August, an officer shot a woman on the same block who refused to drop a knife, police said. And in November, an officer shot and killed a man on the 5300 block of Dix Street NE after police say he advanced toward the officer with a hunting knife.
Crime is high in Clay Terrace, and an officer is on patrol there around the clock, the police chief said.
The investigation is ongoing, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099.
