Police say the use of a pepperball gun to subdue a man wielding a knife at a D.C. Metro station Thursday was justified.
According to Metro Transit Police, officers responed to the Farragut West Metro station just before 5 p.m. Thursday, for reports of homeless individuals blocking the entrance to the station.
Once officers arrived, they asked the suspect, described as a homeless man in his 40s, to leave. At some point, he assaulted an officer and pulled out a flip knife. Police said they asked him to drop the knife, and when he refused, officers used a pepperball gun to subdue him and later take him into custody.
“Our goal is to subdue the suspect," Russell McClung with Metro Transit Police said. "This is a less lethal system and is much better to use than deadly force.”
The suspect will be charged with felony assault on a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon once he is released from George Washington University Hospital.
No one was injured in the incident. Police have not yet released the man's name.
