Another Police Shooting Of A Mentally-Ill Man
This time at 16th and Kalorama. Here's the D.C. Police Department press release:
"At approximately 11:50 a.m., on Tuesday, January 27, 2009, an off-duty Metropolitan Police Department detective reportedly exited his vehicle in the area of the 1600 block of Kalorama Road, NW and was attacked by an apparently deranged man unknown to him. The detective apparently was almost beaten to the point of unconsciousness. At that point, in fear of his life, the detective was forced to draw and discharge his service handgun, striking the suspect once in the abdomen.
The detective has been with the Metropolitan Police Department for 20 years and is currently assigned to the Narcotics and Special Investigations Division. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital and released. The detective, whose name is being withheld at this time, has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
The identity of the suspect, who appears to be emotionally disturbed, has not yet been determined. He was transported to an area hospital in police custody on a charge of Aggravated Assault and admitted in stable condition."
This follows the shooting death of David Kerstetter in early November and yesterday morning's shooting death of Osman Abdullahi.
Update 1:36 p.m. I just talked to a police official who knows the detective involved in yesterday's shooting.
"Nothing bad to say about the guy," the official says. "Never in any trouble and does his work and does good work. All he felt was a knock in the head. He had to defend himself. He was very upset about it. He felt very concerned about the person he shot and concerned about his own safety. He had a hell of knot on his head."
“Luckily it worked out where nobody died. He could have been seriously hurt with that blow to the head," the official says.
For another version from an anonymous partial witness, read below in the comments section.
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Linked From: January 27th, 2009U street crime round-up, etc. « U Street Girl
9:45 pm[...] police officer is in the hospital recovering from a head wound sustained during the incident. The Washington City Paper is reporting that the suspect was mentally ill. This is following the police-related shooting death [...]
9:54 am
Perhaps DC has a problem in caring for the mentally ill / homeless population. To me, that is the story here -- what we do or do not do when it comes to our homeless and mentally ill.
Somehow the headline seems to be placing the blame on the officer. I don't think that was your intention... but that was how I read it.
10:00 am
Matty, that's what Jason Cherkis does. He blames the police in every and all instances behind his computer desk, while they make their $40k salary and take bullets for the rest of us. (And no, I have no affiliation whatsoever to MPD, but I do appreciate people who risk their lives every day in the line of duty...)
10:16 am
The headline could have been better. But it was the second shooting in two days of someone who appeared mentally ill. I just quoted the press release. I agree with Matty as well. The story is how people--the city or the private sector--treats the mentally ill.
12:12 pm
When you say "This follows the shooting death..." you make it a story about cops killing mentally ill people.
Is there really anything more to this particular incident than a cop who was forced to defend himself from an aggressor? There is nothing whatsoever in this incident that relates to how the mentally ill are treated systemically.
12:45 pm
"This follows the shooting death" is a true statement. Two shootings in two days. Not to mention the shooting death of David Kerstetter in November.
12:47 pm
"Is there really anything more to this particular incident than a cop who was forced to defend himself from an aggressor?"
Definitely not, if you believe a government press release.
1:13 pm
I witnessed this event aurally. There was no fight. Just a single shot and a few moans. When I went to my window to see what was going on, there was a man lying face-down in the snow and another man talking excitedly on his cell phone. A car with its engine running and its tail lights on was halfway into the apartment building's parking garage. There were footsteps in the snow leading to the passenger side of the car. No sign of police or ambulance. I thought the guy on the phone was calling 911, but the police and ambulance didn't arrive until my friend, who was with me, called it in. We stood there watching from the window for nearly 10 minutes. After the police arrived they trampled on those snow prints next to the car (destroying them)and blocked off another area of the street that was NOT the scene of the accident.
In other words, this story you've just read here is a TOTAL fabrication. Total. From the DC Police Dept. Sad.
1:18 pm
Some sure signs of bogusness: all the "apparently"s and "reportedly"s.
"Reportedly"? In a police press release? What's that mean? Who reported this first? Did the police mouthpiece read about the shooting in the Washington Post before writing up the release?
3:25 pm
This man attacked the person not knowing he was a police officer, what does the fact that he's mentally ill have to do with someone feeling their life was threatened and then defending themselves. Jason, get off you high horse. The title of your artilcle is very misleading and designed to stur up public outcry against the police. You do the public a disservice with this kind of trashy reporting.
3:47 pm
Some people deserve to be shot. If this detective was not a member of the department he could have been killed. I love how the uppity socially numb/ignorant people see things. Chances are they come from california, grew up in the sticks, and know nothing of the streets. And I am willing to bet have no family history/understanding of these streets.
There are so many people who think they are entitled to being just uptight, cynical and inhabitants of the district so they can tell people, I live in DC, boo-hoo. The bottom line is without the police there would be anarchy. There is always some rich kid mentality going on in the district, o the psycho has rights too. And to be quite blunt, the press always bends the truth into what they see as truth.
I wish all the people from the sticks, who have never been a victim of crime, who never had to work to put a roof over their head would go back to the sticks, and live with mommy and daddy, and drive their cars, and spend thier money. This is truly sad but true.
The truth is 90% of the people in the metropolitan area are from other, far away places. They come here, they always have something to say, and are the first ones to think they know the culture of these streets. And on a final note, get over it, unless this guy was your brother or family member, he clearly was intent on robbing and or killing some random person. The next time you get beaten down, just go home, because in your eyes, we don't need police, and we really think the psychos need help and all the police want to do is shoot innocent people. Wake up people and go back to uppity California...
3:52 pm
rant fail
4:13 pm
Your right, hardly a real newspaper worth raeding found this on google.I can get ignorant too....
4:22 pm
second the motion on rant fail. The headline was aimed at pointing out that maybe something should be done about District residents in crisis. I don't need to google this because it's so well known. I'll just say it: too many mentally ill residents end up down at Superior Court and at the D.C. Jail. Now they are getting into confrontations with the police. And these confrontations are turning deadly. Two deaths since Nov. And one man injured. And a number of officers who were put in dangerous situations.
But again. The case of David Kerstetter is different. It is still an open question--as with all these cases--whether the police were justified in shooting.
10:23 pm
When I press back I will have no idea where I am.
Sigh.
CP, fix your web page!!!
9:42 pm
Once again another one side story from your paper. As you often forget that the police have alot more restrictions on what they can comment on than you do. I know everyone wants to believe that they live in a police state. City Paper exploits this to the max. You accused MPD of a cover up in the Rawlings case even though you knew that the US Attorney's office issued an order that forbide MPD to publicly discussing the case. Do they teach you guys ethics. You are a frustrated wanna be crusader who wants the big story no matter if the facts support your findings