Police shot a man near the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Southeast D.C. Friday evening.
Police identified the suspect as Kenneth Coleman, 35, of Southeast on Sunday.
Uniformed officers with a new homicide suppression unit created in January were trying to contact Coleman in an apartment complex courtyard in the 1400 block of Bangor Street SE at about 6:20 p.m., police said.
“The male immediately ran from our officers,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said. “Our officers followed him into an alley where the man pulled out a firearm. The man fire multiple shots towards our officers. Our officers returned fire, striking the individual. Our officers rendered medical attention to the subject.”
Coleman was taken to a hospital and will survive his injuries. No officers were injured.
Police recovered a weapon at the scene.
It’s unclear why police initially approached him.
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Coleman was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition.
The neighborhood is receiving extra patrols because of an increase in homicides, police said.
“Our officers were conduction proactive policing, which is what I expect them to do,” Smith said. “And it’s unfortunate that someone assumes that it is OK to shoot at our officers when we are proactively trying to prevent crime in this particular area.”
Internal Affairs agents are investigating.
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