About an hour earlier, Williams says, he received a call from the U.S. Attorney's office: "I want to tell you something before you see it in the news," Williams recalls the caller saying, "they're releasing the 14 year old."

The news had been trickling out all day to Williams and parents of the other victims in a string of deadly shootings last month.

A case of "mistaken identity" is how detectives explained to Nardyne Jefferies, mother of fatally shot 16-year-old Brishell Jones, their decision to dismiss all charges against one of the suspects arrested in connection with deadly drive-by shooting in Washington Highlands on March 30. Police believe the killings occurred in response to another murder (that of Williams' son Howe) just eight days earlier.

According to WaPo, the cops may have cuffed the wrong kid after chasing a shooting suspect into a school building, where an evening program was underway:

When the boy saw the officers, the source said, he put his hands in the air. He did so, apparently, not because he had been involved in the shooting but because he was an absconder from the juvenile justice system in an earlier criminal case, and he assumed that police had come to arrest him, according to the source.

Outraged parents gathered outside the police building late Thursday afternoon awaiting Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty's official announcement about the dropped charges. At first, the press conference was scheduled to take place outside police headquarters; later, the location moved inside. The continual shifting of the setting seemed to only rouse suspicion among the victims' families.

"They're stalling," Jefferies told City Desk. "They don't want to come out."

Standing alongside the victims' kin, Rev. Anthony Motley, a candidate for D.C. Council, told members of the media that any reporter entering the building would be barred from speaking with the families in the future. With reporters then refusing to go inside, officials moved the press conference back outside.

UPDATE: At about 5:45 p.m., Mayor Fenty, Chief Lanier and Attorney General Peter Nickles appeared outside to make the official announcement.

Fenty described the March 30 shooting as among the most violent in D.C. history. He commended the police for an "amazing" job on the case and indicated that detectives have made "significant progress" in their investigation.

Nickles criticized the media, pointing to the Examiner in particular (City Desk had reprinted the Examiner's reference), for releasing the name of the juvenile suspect, who he then identified as Malik Carter, 14. Nickles insisted that Carter was "not the driver of the vehicle" as previously believed.

Chief Lanier called Carter's prior arrest "well justified" given the "chaotic scene" of the crime, which involved a footchase in the dark. She added that fingerprints ultimately cleared the teen in the case.

Lanier also announced the arrest of two additional adult suspects in the case, without providing names, and added that police are on the lookout for yet another.

"We are looking for an individual and he knows we are looking for him," she says, further recommending that the suspect turn himself in.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this article misspelled Attorney General Peter Nickles' name. The editor regrets the error.–Chris Shott

According to the report, Barry told Watts-Brighthaupt about his concern that another crony, Rev. Anthony Motley was deposed without a lawyer present. "He was against that," Watts-Brighthaupt told Bennett's team. "He told him not to come. But he believes Reverend Motley did okay."

Barry also reached out to Brenda Richardson, who ran the fishy non-profits, and inquired about her own testimony. Bennett's team writes in their report:

"Apparently, Mr. Barry attempted to monitor the Council's inquiry by talking to witnesses who had been interviewed or deposed. Ms. Watts-Brighthaupt testified that in her presence Mr. Barry called Ms. Richardson on his cell phone, inquired 'How did you do?' listened as Ms. Richardson 'spoke for a while,' and after hanging up, told her that Ms. Richardson said, 'I think I did okay.'"

Barry, during his own deposition, was asked about his meddling. Bennett's team found his answers not credible.

According to the Bennett report, Barry stated in his deposition: "any allegations that I tried to discourage anyone from cooperating with this investigation is absolutely false, false, false." Anyone making that allegation is a "liar."

But Barry did admit that he may have mentioned Scott Bolden to Watts-Brighthaupt and may have mentioned several lawyers in town who were assisting individuals in the investigation. He could not recall whether he discouraged Watts-Brighthaupt from turning over her hard drive to authorities.

As the deposition was coming to a close, Barry announced that he would like to make a statement to Bennett's team. He addressed the allegations that he tried to hinder the investigation:

"You had a question about advising not to cooperate, et cetera. I want to make it crystal clear I've not done that. There's no reason to. I think that I've followed whatever procedures there were — that were there or lack thereafter [sic], in some instances, so I just wanted to again reiterate that, if people make allegations about any and everything, but I have nothing but respect for this process, I voted for the Resolution. Anybody asked me about why I voted for it, because I believe it's the right thing to do.

So therefore, having done that, I would not go behind, trying to hide anything or cover anything. There's nothing to cover up from my perspective."

The Bennett Report's response:

"As the findings make clear, Special Counsel does not credit Council Member Barry's testimony in significant aspects. To the contrary, Special Council finds there is substantial evidence that Mr. Barry engaged in conduct to impede the Council's investigation. This conduct may implicate criminal laws respecting obstruction and false testimony, and should be referred to appropriate authorities for investigation."

*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Now Metro's board got a new chair
And newbies with fantastic hair
But that isn't all
They've stemmed the shortfall
By adding a dime to the fare

Well, Butterstick, what a good run
Your time in D.C. is near done
Before China takes
Let ol' Land O'Lakes
Treat all of your fans to some fun

Catania will seek reelection
With Motley the other selection
The fight may be fair
But one thing they share:
A hist'ry of party defection

This weekend, Marion Barry engaged in some rather questionable behavior. The councilmember allegedly snuck into his ex-girlfriend's house and later found and/or followed her in his car and was arrested on stalking charges. He had also allegedly locked her out of his hotel room in Denver during the Democratic Convention and canceled her return flight to D.C. The two apparently weren't soul mates. All of this behavior is stunning considering that Barry really, really does not like being stalked.

Barry especially doesn't like being stalked by reporters. In fact, he has quite the history of using the police to prevent reporters from following him.

I reported on the former mayor's drug problems in 2006. During the reporting of that story, part of our job was to follow him around, see who he hung out with, and how he spent his time. After leaving a community event, we followed him in my crummy Corolla. Full disclosure: Our cop skills were really lame.

We didn't get very far before Barry pulled into a liquor store parking lot. Like dummies, we stopped too, even pulling in directly behind him. Barry got out of his car and promptly dialed 911.

Myself and another reporter sat in our car trying to figure out what to do. Barry had made it clear that he would not to talk to us; he was still holding true to his interview ban with City Paper reporters. We could only follow him and report what we saw. After a few moments, I decided to confront the councilmember.

"I'm calling the police," Barry mumbled as I walked up beside him.

"That's ironic—you calling the police," I replied. Full disclosure: I was pissed off at Barry for calling the cops. Seemed like such a dramatic waste of time.

Barry argued that what we were doing was harassment. I started asking him questions about his drug test, I believe. A member of his entourage stood nearby. He was dressed in sweatpants. And like Barry, he had his ear to a cellphone.

"I'm on the phone here," the Sweatpants Man said. He added that he could "get some boys to come over and take care of the situation." He then pointed to the nearby neighborhood. The man making those threats was the Rev. Anthony Motley.

"What are they going to do? Kill us?" I asked.

I thought the whole scene was getting silly. Motley was all bluff. We ended up bailing before the cops showed up. This encounter just wasn't necessary and added nothing to our reporting. The real reporting came from his council record and what his neighbors saw him do (i.e. buy drugs).

Reached today, Motley says he doesn't recall the incident.

On a subsequent night, two other reporters were tasked to follow Barry. They were parked outside Barry's girlfriend's apartment complex. At around 11 p.m., the councilmember drove away. The reporters attempted to follow him.

Barry pulled up alongside two D.C. police cruisers. They chatted for a while. The cops then blocked the street, and Barry drove away. The cops told the reporters that they had to wait a while. After five minutes, the police officers moved their cars and let the reporters pass.

In 2004, I was on another Barry story–this time chronicling his successful hobble toward winning the Ward 8 council seat. On the Sunday before the primary, Barry threatened us with police intervention if we didn't leave a public street near his apartment. We refused. The cops never showed up.

While Barry is always quick to claim that he is the victim of police harassment, he did not hesitate using rank-and-file cops to get what he wants. In our case, that meant not answering questions or not letting reporters see what he does with his late-night downtime.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery