A D.C. police sergeant fired at least 10 rounds into a BMW sedan, killing an armed man as he drove away from officers trying to detain him, a shooting the police chief called inconsistent with policies that generally prohibit firing at moving vehicles.
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After releasing video from the officer’s body camera, Chief Robert J. Contee III promised a thorough investigation into the actions of officers who were called after the driver was found unresponsive inside the vehicle, which was running but stopped at an intersection early Wednesday in Northeast Washington. Police said the man had a gun tucked in the right side of his waistband.
Contee said it is still unclear why the sergeant fired his weapon. The chief noted the video is obstructed by a ballistic shield the officer was holding. “It is very difficult to see what the officer was seeing,” the chief said. “What did he perceive to be the threat at that point?”
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Police identified the motorist as 27-year-old Antwan Gilmore, of Capitol Heights. The body-camera video appears to show the officer firing several shots at the vehicle as it was being driven away, but after it had gone beyond the group of officers. It crashed into a tree about four blocks away.
Contee said the gun officers had seen when they first encountered Gilmore “was still in the right side of his waist band area” after the crash. The chief said he does not know if Gilmore ever removed the gun from his waistband during the encounter.
The quick release of the video Thursday comes after several D.C. lawmakers called for a thorough public vetting of what led to the 2:45 a.m. shooting at New York and Florida avenues and criticism from activists on social media who called the actions of the officers unnecessary.
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D.C. Council Member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), a former prosecutor and attorney in the Department of Justice civil right’s division, said “understandably, public anxiety is heightened.”
In a statement, McDuffie said “the family of the victim as well as the public deserve to know whether the officers’ tactics were appropriate and the use of deadly force justifiable.”
Nee Nee Taylor, co-conductor for Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, a Black-led mutual aid and community defense organization, and a member of the Defund MPD coalition, said officers should have employed more de-escalation techniques when approaching Gilmore’s car. She wants to see the officer fired.
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“The approach of the car was met with a criminalized mind-set … the way they show up right now is like, to me, in a very aggressive manner,” Taylor said. “We don’t need police that shoot our people 10 times.”
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Contee said the shooting is being investigated and will be presented to the U.S. attorney’s office for the District for review for possible criminal prosecution.
He said the officer, identified as Sgt. Enis Jevric, on the force nearly 14 years and assigned to the 5th District station, has not provided a statement to investigators, as is his right during the criminal phase of the inquiry. Reached Thursday, Jevric declined to comment. Officials said he is on administrative leave as police investigate.
D.C. police officer fatally shoots armed man in vehicle
Police said Gilmore was found in a vehicle stopped in a travel lane and at a traffic signal. The first arriving officer saw a gun in the driver’s waistband and his foot on the brake pedal of the running car, police said.
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Authorities said the officer retreated, called for help and returned with a body shield. The released video begins as the officer heads back to the car and captures his comments to other officers.
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With other officers standing near him at the closed driver’s side window, the video shows Jevric saying, “He’s waking up. He’s waking up.” He then says, “Bring me some more light.” The video does not capture a clear view inside the vehicle.
Police said it appeared the driver was stirring. “Oh s---, he’s waking up,” Jevric says. “Watch the hands. Put the light on him. Move up closer. Move up.”
Then the officer is heard saying, “Where’s the gun at? Should we knock?” He then tells a colleague, “You might want to get out of the way, man, you’re going to scare him.”
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The officer instructs other officers to tap on the driver’s side window. He then shouts, “Don’t move,” as the driver lurches the vehicle forward a few feet, then stops.
A District official said it appears officers had awakened Gilmore by tapping on the window, and that he jolted up in his seat, put his left hand on the steering wheel and moved his right hand to his right side. The official said investigators can’t yet determine if Gilmore was resting his hand or moving toward the firearm.
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The video shows Gilmore driving away amid chaotic shouts from several officers, and a near simultaneous volley of gunshots.
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The vehicle crashed into a tree several blocks away, at New York Avenue and North Capitol Street. Gilmore died at a hospital. Efforts to reach his relatives were not successful Thursday.
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A picture of the vehicle broadcast on WJLA-TV shows a single bullet hole in the upper left-hand portion of the driver’s side window, and the rear driver’s side window shattered.
D.C. police rules governing the use of force generally prohibit officers from shooting at or from moving vehicles “unless deadly force is being used against the member or another person.”
The rules also state that “a moving vehicle is not considered deadly force” unless it is involved in a “ramming attack” intended to kill people in a crowd. Police also advise officers to try to “avoid tactics that could place them in a position where a vehicle could be used against them.”
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Contee said “firing at a moving vehicle is inconsistent with our policies.” But the chief also said the investigation will have to determine whether those policies were violated.
Contee said that the gun has been traced to South Carolina and that Gilmore was not registered to possess a firearm. The chief said Gilmore was being sought on an arrest warrant stemming from a firearms discharge. A district official said the responding officers did not know that when they encountered him Wednesday.
D.C. Council Member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the public safety committee that has oversight of police, called the shooting “deeply concerning.”
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In a statement, he said “any police killing must prompt a thorough review of the decisions, tactics, and actions made by the responding officers, as well as an examination of any operational or structural issues within the Department that may have contributed.”
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D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) urged Contee to “move aggressively to prove whether this use of force was indeed justified.”
In a statement before the body-camera video was made public, he said, “lethal force should rarely be used, and every measure must be taken to avoid fatal force. Successful policing requires community trust. That trust rises or falls on whether our communities feel protected or threatened by the police. ”
Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
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