DC police release footage of officer shooting man accused of stabbing officer during welfare check
Editor’s Note: Because of the graphic nature of the video released by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), we have chosen to show only a portion of it. Within the story, we have linked to the video as released by MPD. We recommend viewer discretion.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) released body-worn camera footage from an incident that happened last weekend in which an officer shot a man during an attempted welfare check.
Officers first responded to the Columbia Plaza apartment complex in the 2400 block of Virginia Avenue NW just before 10:40 a.m. after a welfare check was requested for “an individual in crisis,” according to an MPD community briefing.
They weren’t able to find the individual – later identified as 28-year-old Jonathan Jefferson – but said they tried to investigate issues raised in the initial call for help.
DC police: Officer shoots man who stabbed officer in neck during welfare check
MPD returned a few hours later at 1:55 p.m. and found Jefferson outside the apartment’s entrance. They spoke with him and requested help from the Department of Behavior Health (DBH), which arrived about 10 minutes later.
The department’s Community Response Team (CRT) encouraged Jefferson to agree to be taken to a facility for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, but he declined.
At one point during the conversation, police said he put a hand in his pocket. One officer told Jefferson to take his hand out of his pocket, but he refused.
Then, at around 2:23 p.m., DBH team members decided to take Jefferson for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.
Man shot, accused of stabbing DC police officer identified
Three MPD officers, one sergeant and a CRT member approached him, with two officers holding his arms. Jefferson tried resisting the officers, and the sergeant took out an electronic control device (ECD).
Jefferson pulled away from one of the officers, pulled a knife out of his pocket and tried slashing the officer’s neck. At that point, the sergeant discharged the ECD, but it “did not appear to take effect,” according to the community briefing.
As the officers moved away from him, he followed one of them.
The sergeant then fired their firearm several times, hitting Jefferson.
He was ordered to the ground and taken into custody by police.
He was taken to a hospital and treated after being shot in the hand and grazed on his thigh. The officer who was stabbed was also taken to a hospital where they were treated and released.
MPD said the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is reviewing the incident. Once their review is completed, it will be investigated by MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau’s Force Investigation Team.
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