D.C. police were involved in two unrelated shootings in less than a two-block stretch of Georgia Avenue NW on Tuesday evening, with one leaving a man dead, authorities say.
A man died after he crashed into a police cruiser, tried to take an officer’s gun and then tried to carjack a woman at knifepoint, police said.
Investigators describing the situation said the shootings were so close, the second occurred in the traffic backup from the first.
The shots can be heard on a cellphone video taken by a rideshare driver who had pulled over on Morton Street, near the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue. He saw the white sedan cross the double yellow line and appear to deliberately hit a D.C. police cruiser.
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A bullet hole could be seen in a window of the white car.
“I saw that the white car right there had rammed into the police officer, and there was a lot of commotion,” said a witness named Andre. “People were just like, you know, stopping their cars and taking cover.”
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith described what happened in the moments after the crash.
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“After the collision, the suspect got out of his vehicle, produced a knife and reached into the officer's cruiser through the open window, and demanded the officer's service weapon while swinging the knife towards the officer,” she said. “The officer retreated to the passenger seat of the cruiser and gave loud verbal commands for the suspect to get back. The suspect continued to swing the knife towards the officer, and the officer discharged his service weapon.”
Smith showed a photo of the knife she said the man was using. She said despite being shot by the officer, he got out and ran up Georgia Avenue to a laundromat. Witnesses say he was shirtless.
“The suspect refused to drop the knife and entered another police cruiser that was further in the block. After multiple commands, the suspect gets out of the cruiser while still armed with the knife,” Smith said. “The suspect then approaches a vehicle occupied by a woman in the parking lot of the laundromat. He opened the driver's door of the vehicle while still armed with the knife in his hand and attempted to carjack the vehicle. At this time, one of our officers discharged their service weapon [at] the suspect, striking him.”
The shooting occurred two blocks away and about two hours after the other gunfire incident involving police, in the 3600 block of Georgia Avenue at Quebec Place.
Police say officers doing traffic patrols heard gunshots and encountered two men firing guns.
An officer fired at them but did not hit either man, both of whom ran.
Smith says all body-worn camera footage from officers involved will be reviewed.
Editor's Note (Monday, Feb. 19, 6:18 a.m.): A previous version of the article said an officer-involved gunfire incident happened at Quebec Street. It has been updated to say Quebec Place.
