A man who was fatally shot by police at his Northwest Washington apartment building Tuesday has been identified as a 34-year-old who a neighbor said had acted erratically in the past and was standing on his balcony yelling and holding what appeared to be a rifle.
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D.C. police said they were called shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday to the 1400 block of V Street NW for a report of man on a balcony with a gun. A person who called 911 said it appeared the man — identified as George D. Watson — was pointing a firearm toward the street.
Authorities said officers confronted Watson and talked to him multiple times to try to de-escalate the situation near the entrance to his apartment. One D.C. officer fired when Watson emerged from the apartment and pointed the gun at officers, police said. The object that Watson was holding turned out to be a nonlethal pellet gun resembling a rifle, police said.
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The shooting — the third by D.C. police officers in just over a week and the second to be fatal — is raising questions about the best way for law enforcement and others to deal with people who appear to be in emotional distress. The person who called 911 said she told the operator the man seemed to be suffering a mental health crisis.
Many details of Watson’s background, including whether he had any identified mental health issues, remained unclear Wednesday.
Two of Watson’s relatives, including a woman who identified herself as his mother, said they did not want to comment.
Last Fall, Watson was arrested outside the White House after fighting with Secret Service officers and making what they termed “nonsensical statements.” Court papers show Watson was taken for a psychiatric evaluation, but available records do not describe any conclusions. Watson’s attorney in that case did not respond to interview requests.
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D.C. police said in a statement that after officers arrived at the V Street building on Tuesday evening, Watson went in and out of his apartment, closing the door behind him, while talking to officers. At one point, police said, he was holding what looked like a long gun.
“The male subject pointed the weapon in the direction of officers,” police said in a statement. Police said one officer fired, striking Watson. Watson died at a hospital.
A police spokesman said Wednesday that another officer near the doorway suffered a gunshot wound to the hand. The spokesman declined to elaborate on how the officer was hurt.
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“It’s unfortunate anytime we have to use force,” Police Chief Robert J. Contee III told reporters at the scene. The department has until next week to release body-camera video from the officer who fired. Watson’s family can object to public release of the video, which would put the decision before D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser.
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The shooting came as the District has been working to implement a program to direct some calls for people suffering mental health crises to counselors instead of to the police. That program is the midst of a trial run and most likely would not have applied to Tuesday’s 911 call about Watson. Protocols require police to respond to any call involving a weapon or a perceived safety threat, including to the person in crisis.
D.C. Council Member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the public safety committee and is pushing for alternatives to a police response in a variety of situations, said the call involving Watson appeared to be one that required a police response.
But Allen said that maybe police and counselors should go together to such calls. “How do we make sure we get a system built for an appropriate response?” the lawmaker said. “These are the hard questions we are wrestling with. I don’t want to see an officer injured, and I don’t want to have a citizen killed.”
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Authorities said Watson has had several encounters with police since last year in Northwest and Southeast Washington, most of them minor. Police officials confirmed that the incident outside the White House was among them.
Watson pleaded guilty to assaulting a uniformed U.S. Secret Service officer outside the White House in September 2020 and received a 30-day suspended sentence.
An arrest affidavit says that after his arrest outside the White House, Watson was taken to a hospital where he reportedly stated he had gone to the White House “and wanted to be shot by Secret Service snipers.”
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Deborah Thomas, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for the area, said neighbors told her that Watson was known in the community.
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Shawn Creek, who lives in the area, listened to Contee’s news conference Tuesday night and asked Thomas, “If [Watson] didn’t shoot, why did they have to shoot him?”
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“Someone dropped the ball here,” Thomas replied, saying that the call should have been handled by mental health professionals.
A woman who called 911 Tuesday night about Watson said she had previously seen him sleeping on a mattress on his balcony. She said he sometimes shouted profanities or threats.
The woman, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because she is a witness in the case, said she was fearful Tuesday evening when she saw him with what looked like a shotgun, which she said he was pointing toward the street. The woman said she reluctantly called police, believing there was no option. She said she had a youth in her care who also was frightened.
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“I didn’t know what else to do at that point,” the woman said.
She said that at one point after police had been called, Watson emerged on the balcony holding a guitar. Later, she said, she heard several pops of gunfire.
“I’m so sad the man died,” the woman said. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Alice Crites and Emily Davies contributed to this report.
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