This is the moment a Washington DC police officer shoots a suspect who drove off with him in the back of a car after repeatedly pleading with him to stop the vehicle.
The incident took place on Kennedy Street NW, in the US capital Washington DC, just under five miles from the White House at around 4:45 PM on 22nd October, but the police have just released the footage now.
The images show a police officer responding to an incident, running towards two other police officers and a suspect who can be seen behind the wheel of a vehicle.
While the two other police officers demand that the suspect exit the vehicle, the police officer gets in the back of the car, as the body cam footage shows. The police officers’ request for the suspect to exit the vehicle falls on deaf ears and the motorist drives off with the third police officer in the back of the car.
The police officer, who has not been named, can be heard in the footage repeatedly shouting at the suspect to bring the vehicle to a halt and put it in park mode. When the suspect refuses to comply, the police officer shoots him once. It appears that the bullet hits the suspect in the side.
The police officer then jumps out of the moving car and hits the tarmac, badly injuring his right arm. The vehicle comes to a stop and other police officers arrive on the scene. The injured police officer tells his colleagues that he opened fire and can be heard shouting in pain as the footage ends.
The footage was shared online by the DC Police, who said in a statement that the incident started when “a uniformed fourth district officer was flagged down by an individual who reported seeing an adult male with a gun chasing another male.
“The officer provided the police dispatcher and other officers a description of the individual with the gun. At approximately 4:50 PM, two officers located an individual matching the description in the 300 block of Kennedy Street NW. The officers attempted to stop and handcuff the individual, who immediately began resisting.
“During the struggle, one of the officers felt a concealed object, consistent with a firearm, on the right side of the individual’s waistband.
“The individual was able to break free of the struggle with officers and fled across the street into an alley where there was a black Jeep parked.”
The statement added: “The individual entered the vehicle from the passenger side and got into the driver’s seat while officers were attempting to remove him from the vehicle.
“The involved officer responded to assist with apprehending the individual and entered the vehicle from the rear driver’s side door. The individual, ignoring commands from officers, started the vehicle and suddenly accelerated forward, throwing the two original pursuing officers to the ground, causing injuries to both and stranding the involved officer in the rear of the individual’s vehicle.
“The involved officer directed the suspect numerous times to place the vehicle in park. The individual briefly stopped, but did not place it in park, and then quickly continued driving westbound on Kennedy Street, NW.
“The involved officer discharged one round from his department firearm, striking the individual one time. After discharging his firearm, the involved officer exited the moving vehicle and fell into the roadway in the 500 block of Kennedy Street, NW.”
The police said that the suspect then proceeded to flee in the vehicle before showing up hospital to be treated for a non-life threatening injury. The police officers were also treated at local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, according to the force.
The suspect, who has not been named, was subsequently arrested, and police say he has been charged with “felony assault on a police officer while armed, kidnapping while armed, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, fleeing a law enforcement officer, failure to obey, and reckless driving.”
The DC Police said that the officer who fired his weapon has been put on leave, as is normal in such cases, while the incident is being investigated.
