“Having this unit helps not to revictimize victims again, deaf victims,” Jordan said.

After 34 years on the force, she knows retirement is near and she wants to ensure the unit is staffed with younger officers who can carry on her work for years to come.

Gallaudet University graduate Officer Jay Pomare has been on the force for a year. He is the son of two deaf parents, so American Sign Language is his first language.

“When I came out the womb, my parents are signing to me, and I’m being receptive to everything that they’re signing,” he said. “I had to go to school and go to speech therapy, and then that’s how I learned how to talk.”

“I’ve always been a mediator, and really, that’s what a liaison is, a mediator,” Pomare said. “Having two deaf parents, I’ve always mediated from the hearing world to the deaf world.”

Jordan sees the future of the unit when she looks at Pomare.

“I see his deaf heart, meaning, yes, he knows the language, he knows the culture, but he also have a deaf heart,” she said. “He loves the community, and that’s what’s important.”

Pomare has seen the difference it can make when the victim of a crime is able to communicate with police in their first language.

“It feels like a sense of relief,” he said. “They see it and they feel like, ‘Oh, perfect, I don’t have to really struggle while I’m already experiencing a traumatizing or bad experience.’”

A spokesperson for the National Association of the Deaf said often people who are deaf or hard of hearing are arrested for failure to comply with verbal orders.

A man who was just kicked out of a Dupont Circle nightclub, pulled out a gun and fired injuring five people and a security guard late Friday, Metropolitan police said.

Six people were injured, a MPD commander told News4. All suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One person was treated at the scene for a minor graze wound, D.C. police said.

Bullets pierced at least one window along the busy nightlife corridor. It’s not clear if the victims were inside or outside when they were shot.

Police caught up with the alleged shooter, identified as 29-year-old Rennwel Mantock, of Hyattsville, and arrested him shortly after it happened. He was charged with assault with intent to kill, possession of unregistered ammunition and possession of a unregistered firearm.

A firearm was recovered, police said.

After hitting record highs in 2023, crime has been trending down in the District so far this year. Data from the Metropolitan Police Department show violent crime is down 25%. Assaults with a deadly weapon, the type of crime that this shooting will be classified, is down 31% year-over-year — 293 versus 427.

In all, total reported crime is down 14%.

The drop in crime comes as the District works to fill officer shortages among the police department ranks. The department has 3,323 officers now, and Chief Pamela Smith said having 4,000 officers would be ideal. A newly launched in-person recruiting team is at work in D.C. and across the U.S.

They were all senior police officers who had retired and then were rehired.

D.C. police officials have refused to provide many details about what type of misconduct these officers were found to have committed, but they did say the misconduct happened before the officers initially retired. They would not say why those officers were rehired given the previous misconduct.

The firings come in part because of a law passed by the D.C. Council more than a year ago, the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which changed the requirements for hiring.

In a statement, an MPD spokesperson cited that legislation as the reason most of the officers are being let go.

“This year, the department … had to apply a provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 that prohibits MPD from appointing police officers who have any serious misconduct in their background. This week, MPD notified 12 members that their contract would not be renewed due to this law. In addition, the contracts of nine other members were not renewed for a variety of reasons, for a total of 21 members whose employment will end April 30.”

The legislation was controversial at the time it was passed. It was one of the D.C. crime bills that congressional Republicans unsuccessfully tried to block.

As for the nine who were terminated for other reasons, MPD won’t give any details on why they were let go.

Of the 21 total officers, three were senior sergeants, while the rest were senior officers. The 21 were assigned to various positions, including as patrol officers and school resource officers.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told News4 on Thursday that she had been unaware of the terminations until News4 began asking about them.

“This is the consequence of a change in the law, and we will look at it more closely to see if we can work — if we think we need to work with the Council to change it,” Bowser said.

The terminations come as the District continues to struggle with police staffing amid concerns over violent crime.

The police union put out a statement blasting the legislation that led to these firings and said some of the disciplinary matters occurred more than 20 years ago.

“These officers represent a collective experience of over 300 years in law enforcement, and their contributions have been critical to the safety and security of our city,” D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said in the union’s statement. “Many of these officers have received commendations for their bravery and service, making this decision even more frustrating.”

The union’s statement went on to say that union officials hope the D.C. Council will “reevaluate the anti-police positions they took in 2020 and prioritize a balanced approach that allows police officers to do their job and seeks to restore the staffing levels on the MPD.”

“My brother got shot right here,” the Maryland man said, pointing to the sidewalk in front of a small apartment building.

Robert “Bobby” Plummer was among a group of people hanging outside the evening of Oct. 5, 2020, when police say someone opened fire at them, killing Bobby and wounding three others.

His family believes Bobby – a favorite uncle whom they described as loving and joyful — wasn’t the intended target. Years later, no one has been arrested in the crime. Plummer, his brother-in-law Kenneth McGee and Bobby’s daughter, Alexis, are convinced someone knows something but isn’t talking.

“I’m angry, but I’m not surprised,” McGee, also of Maryland, said. “We have been programmed that doing the right thing is actually doing the wrong thing.”

The Plummer family isn’t alone in its pain. Bobby’s case is one of nearly 120 unsolved homicides from 2020, according to the Metropolitan Police Department’s website. D.C. police are also working to solve 172 homicides from last year – more than 60% of last year’s homicide total.

“The reason they’re not getting solved is because no one will stand up and speak on them,” a frustrated Plummer said.

Bobby’s family knows why some witnesses may stay on the sidelines: fear of police, fear of incrimination, fear of being called to testify or fear of being called a snitch.

There’s one tool, though, they hope someone will use to solve their brother’s case: an anonymous tip line luring callers with the potential for cash.

But the News4 I-Team found not only do these tip reward programs vary widely in how they’re run, there also are concerns over whether having cops run their own program hurts the cases they’re trying to solve.

“Negative perceptions of policing is a major reason for a lack of witness participation,” said Tom Scott, a social scientist with RTI International who studies policing and crime.

He said that while there’s little formal research into what makes a successful cash reward for crime tips program, it’s unusual to have police run them. Most, he noted, are operated by small nonprofit or volunteer groups such as Crime Stoppers or Crime Solvers, which typically fundraise to pay small rewards and aren’t subject to much scrutiny.

D.C. police use public dollars to pay out rewards as high as $25,000 but are also reliant on tips from a community that Scott said may be skeptical of them.

“You’re trying to incentivize witnesses and victims to share information with law enforcement … even when they might have negative personal experiences with law enforcement,” he said.

Frustrated by unsolved homicides, former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey created the department’s rewards program more than 20 years ago. The program has since expanded to include payouts for tips about shootings, robberies, gun seizures and illegal ATV operators.  

Through an open records request, the I-Team found D.C. police have paid out a combined $1.93 million for homicide-related tips to 191 people since fiscal year 2018. The rewards, associated with convictions related in 73 cases, represent 6% of all homicide cases since that year.

A police spokesman noted there could be additional people who were eligible for reward funds who didn’t follow through with collecting them. 

Scott said even a single closed case makes the program worth it but wonders if there would be even more pay outs if tip calls weren’t fielded by cops. For example, on homicide flyers like Bobby’s, the police department advertises a tip line that sends callers to its 24-hour Command Information Center.

“I think as much as law enforcement can separate themselves from their Crime Stoppers program, those negative perceptions of the police and law enforcement would be less likely to hamper participation in those programs,” Scott said.

D.C. does have a separate Crime Solvers group, which MPD’s rewards page indicates pays out tips on lower level offenses. But the head of the D.C. Crime Solvers program told the I-Team it receives its tips from D.C. police. What’s more, the I-Team found the phone number for the local organization directs callers to other surrounding Crime Solvers organizations, instead of the D.C. program.

In Prince George’s County, local Crime Solvers Chairman William Steen explained his group oversees payouts for tips it receives directly, as well as some that are submitted to Prince George’s County police. In those instances, Steen said, the police tell Crime Solvers about tips that helped close critical cases — usually homicides — and the Crime Solvers board decides how much to award the tipster.

Steen said his group works with police but not for police, a key difference, he said, not just in perception but in reality for the anonymity they provide tipsters.

“If you were to call the police department and you were to give your address or your name or proximity to the case, then they’re obligated to take that information and add it to the file,” Steen said. “With Crime Solvers, we make sure that even if you start down that process, that we stop you because we don’t want any of that being a part of the official record.”

D.C. police, however, pushed back on that notion, telling the I-Team in a statement that it “guarantees anonymity to all tipsters.”

A spokesman also told the I-Team they aren’t concerned about a potential lack of tips, noting Chief Pamela Smith recently credited the public’s help for tips that lead to the arrest of a teenager in a recent Brookland Metro station shooting.

But the I-Team found it could be years for those tipsters to be eligible for a reward in D.C., where most tips have to lead to conviction. That’s a higher bar than in many other places in the D.C. area.

In Prince George’s, Montgomery and Fairfax counties — where Crime Solvers programs aren’t run by police – the I-Team found they typically pay rewards for tips leading to an arrest or indictment.

“If you’re only providing rewards after conviction, I don’t think your Crime Stoppers program will be very effective,” Scott suggested.

In a phone interview, the executive director of Crime Stoppers USA told the I-Team her organization doesn’t measure success by how many tips its member groups receive, but by how well they maintain a reputation for providing anonymity to its callers.

She also said her group recommends paying tipsters when they help solve a case – not for conviction.

In the end, the Plummer family doesn’t care what motivates someone to come forward with information about Bobby’s killer. They just want the phone to ring and justice to be served.

“He was a jewel that was picked from the crown of this family,” McGee said.

Plummer said the grief over unanswered questions hangs over his family.

“Someone needs to pay for their mistake,” he said. “I know it won’t bring my brother back, but it’ll bring closure to this family.”

Anyone with information about the killing of Robert “Bobby” Plummer is asked to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099.

This story was reported by Ted Oberg, produced by Katie Leslie, and shot and edited by Jeff Piper. NBC Boston contributed to this report.

Sgt. Tony Mason Jr. died after he was shot in west Baltimore in 2017. He was 40 and had served on the Metropolitan Police Department for 17 years.

Baltimore officials announced Wednesday that Dion Thompson, now 24, was charged in Mason’s murder after a cold case investigation in collaboration with federal officials. Thompson was 18 at the time of the crime.

According to new information provided by a tipster, Thompson, an alleged drug dealer, was in the area when he saw a parked car with two people inside, the tipster told police.

He “became paranoid” and believed the people in the car were there to “either rob him or retaliate against him for all the robberies he was committing,” court documents say. He picked up two friends and opened fire on the car.

Mason was shot and killed. A woman he had dated for about a month was shot and wounded.

An exhaustive investigation found that neither Mason nor the woman were involved in any criminal activity or gang activity, court documents say, and there’s no indication that Thompson knew Mason was an officer.

Police found 16 shell casings on the scene, shot from two 9 mm pistols.

At a news conference Wednesday, D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith thanked investigators for their determination.

“For far too long, the details surrounding Sergeant Mason’s tragic death have remained a painful mystery. However, the Baltimore Police Department, the FBI, the ATF, and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office never stopped following up on tips and tracking down leads,” she said.

Thompson already was in federal prison on drug charges. A lawyer representing him in that case told the Associated Press he is not representing him in the murder case, which wasn’t listed yet in online records.

A car pulls up and someone opens fire

Court documents give accounts of what happened the day Mason was killed.

The woman who survived the shooting told investigators that she and Mason had been sitting in a black Nissan Versa in the 2800 block of Elgin Avenue after midnight on Nov. 4, 2017. They were talking, drinking and listening to music, court documents say.

A dark-colored car pulled up next to them and a passenger called out “Yo” or “Hey, y’all,” the woman recalled.

Then at least one person inside that car began shooting and sped off.

Mason and the woman were both shot. Mason was hit in the left side and left arm, and was pronounced dead less than two hours later, court documents say. The woman was shot in the leg and survived.

‘I got one tonight, dummy’

The tipster who contacted police say Thompson described what happened. He said he was with two friends at the house of one friend’s grandmother.

When Thompson left the house, he said he became paranoid when he saw two people in a parked car. He thought they were a threat to him. He contacted his friends, told them to get guns, went back to pick them up and committed the crime, the tipster said.

Thompson said he dropped off his two friends and went home to ask his brother for more bullets. His brother said he was tired of wasting bullets on him because Thompson hadn’t killed anyone yet.

“I got one tonight, dummy. Watch the news,” Thompson said that he replied.

Thompson learned later, from watching the news, that he had killed an off-duty officer and injured a woman, the tipster said.

Metropolitan Police Department (DC Police / MPD) Apr 12

DC police train community safety ambassadors to lighten load on officers

Metropolitan Police Department (DC Police / MPD) Apr 13

5 card skimmers found in DC within 3 weeks, police say

He went to Philadelphia to get rid of the car used in the crime, he said.

One of the friends who Thompson was with has since died; the other has not been charged.

Four months later, Thompson was arrested in a drug raid in which fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, a gun and more than $10,000 cash were found, court documents say.

Investigators seized electronic devices and found that Thompson directed people to the area of the killing. Text and call logs appeared to have been deleted from several devices.

Federal prison records say Thompson is set to be released in January 2026.

Mason had been on non-contact status with the Metropolitan Police Department because of an “internal investigation,” a police spokesman said.

Investigators offered a reward of $60,000 for tips on Mason’s murder. The tipster has never asked to receive the reward, court documents say.

Baltimore prosecutors said the case will be handled through a new cold case unit, demonstrating a commitment to finding justice no matter how long ago crimes occurred.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

John Perry-Miller came across a skimmer at self-checkout in the Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Georgetown.

“I notice at the little thing I’m at, the keypad was sparkling, like brand new,” he said.

“So, I yanked on it, and it was loose,” he said. “And so, I called over the attendant and he was like, ‘No it’s not a skimmer,’ and I said, ‘It’s a skimmer!’ And so, we yanked it off together all the way, and he was like, ‘Oh my God.’”

On Friday, police said four other skimmers have been discovered.

The first was found March 25 by an employee at a Harris Teeter on First Street NE in NoMa.

A week later, on April 1, police got a call from an employee at another Harris Teeter on M Street SE in Navy Yard.

Less than an hour after police received the report of the skimmer found in Georgetown Wednesday, another was reported found in the 4500 block of 40^th Street NW.

Then Friday morning, another was discovered at Safeway on Corcoran Street NW near Dupont Circle.

How to identify card skimmers

While police try to track down the thieves here’s what to do to protect against being skimmed:

• Make sure the device doesn’t move.
• Compare the machine to the one next to it.
• Check the alignment of the card reader.
• Look inside of the card reader before using it.

Anyone who finds a skimmer or suspected one should call 911.

Anyone who may be a victim should notify their bank or credit card company immediately.

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The D.C. police department is launching a new team of crime fighters they’re calling community safety ambassadors. They won’t have guns or badges, but they might be the first to show up when you call 911, depending on how serious the problem is.

The hope is that the program will free up dozens of sworn officers for more serious issues.

“I’m a stakeholder in my community. I want to better my community,” explained Davina Carson, one of 16 of those new community safety ambassadors currently in training at the D.C. Police Academy. “I want to be a part of that change that makes it better, and I also want to be that gap, that bridges the police to the community.”

Lindsay Appiah, D.C.’s deputy mayor for public safety, says once the ambassadors hit the streets in a few weeks, they’ll help with police duties like traffic and crowd control at big events, or responding to low level 911 calls like minor car crashes where a police report is needed — but not an actual sworn officer.

“Things that we really believe that we can train civilians, right, these community safety ambassadors, to respond to so that we can really free up sworn officers for the type of policing work that our community expects and needs from them,” said Appiah.

Carson has been a civilian employee for D.C. police for two years, but applied to be a safety ambassador as soon as she heard about the program.

For her, it wasn’t just to be a bridge between police and her community.

“I also have a 14-year-old son. I want him to feel safe,” Carson said. “When he calls the police, I want them to be able to show.”

Roderick Milstead oversees the ambassador program and tells News4, once fully staffed, it will free up 46 sworn officers to be on the streets full time.

“When we get full capacity, we should have 40 CSIs, four supervisors, and 20 of these pretty patrol, or not patrol cars, 20 CSA cars patrolling the city,” Milstead said.

Carson hopes the community will embrace the safety ambassadors once they hit the streets..

“I want them to know that we’re here to help. We’re here to make the community better and to also bridge the gap between the community and MPD, you know? And to free them up so they can be arrived on the scene in a timely manner,” Carson said.

The current group of community safety ambassadors range in ages from 24 to 65, and they are still hiring.

The gunfire quickly scattered the crowd. Children who had been playing on the sidewalk and neighbors ran for their lives into nearby apartments, News4’s Jackie Bensen reported.

D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith said at about 6:15 p.m. the suspects drove up and shot into a crowd in the 1100 block of 21st Street NE and then took off in a light blue Toyota sedan with no front tags, dark tints and black rims.

The Toyota was “possibly occupied with two shooters inside,” authorities said.

This occurred at the Fairway Park Apartments in the Carver-Langston neighborhood off Maryland Avenue.

“Shortly after this shooting occurred, a 12-year-old boy arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound,” Smith said.

Ambulance crews on the scene kept locating victims.

“Five patients total,” a dispatcher said.

A man was declared dead at the scene. Police identified him as Aubrey McLeod, 29, of Largo, Maryland.

Two boys, ages 9 and 12, one woman and two men were shot and taken to hospitals. They are expected to survive their injuries.

“This is another example, and I’ve been through it before in this space of violence, that we cannot, we just cannot accept in our communities,” Smith said. “My condolences go out to the families and friends who were impacted by this senseless gun violence.”

Anyone who has any information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411. Police offer a reward of up to $25,000 for any tips that lead to an arrest.

More information on the motive for the shooting or descriptions of suspects was not provided. Police said the new real-time D.C. crime center was used to capture photos of the wanted vehicle. 

According to information gathered by the News4 I-Team, this is the fourth mass shooting in the District this year. A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot or killed, not including the gunman. 

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

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The Metropolitan Police Department — like other departments across the country — has been having trouble keeping up with staffing. For the past 10 years, MPD has been unable to hire enough new officers to keep up with the number who have been leaving. At the same time, crime was going up in the District.

This fiscal year, the department expects to swear in 18 more officers than have left, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah told News4.

“We’re seeing really good recruiting numbers … and in this budget, we’ll see an actual net gain of officers instead of either staying flat or continuing to drop,” she said.

While 18 more officers in a department that is short almost 700 officers might not seem like much, for eight out of the past 10 years, MPD has lost more officers than it was able to hire. As recently as fiscal year 2021, D.C. police lost 219 more officers than it hired.

Now for the first time in seven years, the number will be on the positive side, which Appiah credits to incentives like signing bonuses and a new union contract.

“And certainly some of the money is,” she said. “Housing, the housing allowance, because we really want people to live in the city. That was a big one. There was some take home cars, which is a big deal for officers. A new CBA really helped with the retention of our, sort of, midcareer officers. So, it really is all of those things that we found that are helpful.”

“I think that we’re in a good place to see positive trends moving forward,” Appiah said.

MPD offers a $25,000 bonus for new hires. The annual starting salary for a D.C. police officer is  just more than $66,000. After five years on the job, officers can make just more than $88,000 per year.

The center is a hub for technology like shot spotters, license-plate readers, traffic cameras and security cameras funneled through a command center at police headquarters.

By registering security cameras with police, residents and businesses are not giving police access but letting them know the location of the camera, so if a crime happens nearby, police can ask for the camera to be checked.

“I want to make it clear, by simply registering your camera, in no way are you giving MPD live access to your camera footage,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.

Businessman Mark Ein, whose company Kastle Systems provides security technology for businesses across the city, took that a step further. He has been organizing a network of private companies who have stepped up to share their surveillance cameras with police in real time.

“So, today we’re announcing not just the integration of this entire network into the new real-time crime center, the push for more, but a commitment to another thousand cameras that we’ll give to any business, any building who wants it installed so that they can be part of this network, and we will do that for you,” Ein said.

He wants every business big and small to consider linking their cameras with the crime center.

“We really encourage people to do it,” he said. “It really is a force multiplier, and if you can imagine when an event happens, most likely there is a private camera there. It’s one thing after the fact to go see what happens, but sometimes in real time, that information and that feed and seeing what happened can be immensely helpful, and so that’s what we’re trying to facilitate.”

D.C. residents and businesses also can get a rebate of up to $500 for installing outdoor security cameras.

Police said someone called to report a man with a gun at around 2:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of Davis Place NW in Glover Park. Authorities did not say what led up to that call.

D.C. police confirmed negotiators have made contact with the man barricaded inside the apartment, and they believe he is the only one inside.

No injuries have been reported.

A large police response, including one officer who was carrying a riot shield, could be seen outside the apartment. 

The scene is near the Russian Embassy, in a residential area with apartment and condo buildings.

Several neighbors said they were stuck outside because police blocked off the whole street.

“My dog has diabetes, so we need to get him his insulin here pretty soon too, but really we just want to know what’s going on in our neighborhood,” one woman said. “I feel like I have started to see crime a little bit more, but nothing on this scale. And it does make you pause a little bit.”

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

The 12-year-old and two 13-year-olds appeared in court after they were charged last week in the death of 64-year-old Reggie Brown. The judge also ruled the girls must undergo competency exams.

Brown died after he was brutally assaulted on Georgia Avenue NW early the morning of Oct. 17. D.C. police say the girls were caught on multiple recordings of the attack that a detective called “horrific.”

The girls, whose names were not released, have been held in a secure juvenile facility since last weekend. In two separate hearings, judges found probable cause for charges of second-degree murder, assault and conspiracy.

In court last week, a detective testified that Brown was disabled, had missing fingers on each hand and had ongoing ailments.

gun violence Mar 29

Girls, 12 and 13, accused of beating 64-year-old man to death along DC's Georgia Avenue

Metropolitan Police Department (DC Police / MPD) Apr 1

Girls left in ‘celebratory' mood after deadly DC beating, detective testifies

The girls kicked and stomped on Brown and then left in a “celebratory” mood, cellphone video from a girl who was not charged showed, the detective said.

Along with a group of girls, a man also was caught on camera beating Brown, police said. Police have been unable to identify the man and have not released video of him to the public. A police spokesman told News4 the video did not capture any identifiable features.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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Deion Hinnant, 31, of Northeast, was shot and then arrested for alleged assault on an officer, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered gun and ammunition, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday.

There are new questions about how the officer shot Hinnant. A police report obtained by News4 says officers on patrol saw what appeared to be a crime in progress near a bank and tried to intervene.

Since the shooting, the narrative of what police say happened has changed slightly. Initially, police said their crime suppression team saw an altercation and tried to intervene. The report now says the team saw Hinnant chasing someone with a gun.

The initial DC Fire and EMS dispatch call indicated that a man had been shot in the back. On the scene Monday night, Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons declined to say where in the body that Hinnant was shot.

In a statement Wednesday, police said investigators with the Violent Crime Suppression Division’s Robbery Suppression Unit were in the 2100 block of Bladensburg Road NE when they saw an altercation.

They got out of their cruiser and tried to stop a man who they saw with a gun. The man ran and investigators ran after him. Investigators yelled for him to show his hands.

“The man did not comply and appeared to turn towards the investigators. At that time, an MPD investigator discharged their firearm multiple times, striking the man,” the statement said.

Hinnant was shot in the 2200 block of Bladensburg Road, police said. Investigators provided aid and DC Fire and EMS took him to a hospital with serious injuries.

A gun that police say belonged to Hinnant was found.

Investigators involved with the shooting were placed on administrative leave, per MPD policy. An investigation is underway by the MPD Internal Affairs Division’s Force Investigations Team. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will independently review the case, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is assisting.

In a news conference after the shooting, Parsons told reporters that members of the Robbery Suppression Unit were assigned to “go out and get illegal guns off the street, encounter folks that are bad actors in community, and they were doing exactly what they were asked to do.”

The investigators’ body-worn cameras were activated.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Hinnant has a lawyer.

Since April 1, 2023, MPD officers have been involved in seven shootings: three fatal and four non-fatal. In two of the shootings, officers were wounded.

News4 is trying to get a comment from Chief Pamela Smith on the circumstances of the shooting and new information learned from the police report.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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That much was reported at the time, but now the News4 I-Team has the federal documents proving a concerning number of guns the Metropolitan Police Department helped bring into the District ended up at crime scenes. So many guns recovered at crime scenes, in such a brief period, that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives placed D.C. police into a program designed to give extra scrutiny to dealers with higher levels of so-called crime guns.

MPD’s gun dealing was different than what many gun owners may be used to. Theirs was not a typical gun store with display cases and racks of guns to peruse. When a D.C. resident wants a legal handgun, they usually go to a gun store in Virginia or Maryland or to an online site. They pick the gun out, pay for it and have it shipped to a licensed dealer in D.C. – at the time, D.C. police headquarters. That D.C. dealer plays an important role in the sale process as the only place a federal background check is conducted, looking for past crimes or other disqualifications.

In recent weeks, the group Brady United Against Gun Violence released hundreds of letters sent by the ATF to gun dealers across the country that sold 25 or more guns recovered at crime scenes in a single year. The I-Team found one sent to MPD in May 2022. ATF calls it the Demand 2 Program.

“We are not anti-gun dealers at Brady,” Josh Scharff, the group’s general counsel, told the I-Team. “We are anti-irresponsible-gun dealing.”

According to Brady, just 2% of gun dealers across the country are in the ATF program any given year. The I-Team found 14 dealers in D.C., Northern Virginia, and the Maryland suburbs. That includes both currently licensed dealers in D.C. along with MPD from the time when it was an active gun dealer.

That means at least 25 of the guns MPD helped sell to D.C. residents in 2020 and 2021 were recovered at crime scenes in 2021 alone.

“It was a little bit surprising to see that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department receive a demand letter,” Scharff said.

Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) play an important part in crime investigations.After a gun is found at a crime scene, the ATF traces it all the way back to the original sale with dealers and then follows the trail to see who else may have bought the gun before it was used in a crime. Detectives use the traces to develop suspects.

Short ‘time-to-crime’ with DC police dealt guns

According to the ATF, a gun found at a crime scene is on average 10 years along from its first sale – a calculation the ATF calls “time-to-crime.” The ATF explained to the I-Team, “Shorter time-to-crime periods could be indicators of illegal trafficking and provide crucial intelligence to investigators.”

The agency says if that happens within three years of the first sale, it deserves extra scrutiny into the gun dealer. For the dozens of guns recovered at crime scenes that D.C. police helped sell, the time-to-crime was at most 20 months – less than two years.

MPD is ‘ultimately responsible’

D.C. police has since stopped operating as an FFL, but Scharff told the I-Team the department should want to know why that time-to-crime was shorter and be able to tell D.C. families if their loved one was shot with a gun they helped bring into the District.

“MPD is ultimately responsible for the public safety of the residents of the of Washington, D.C.,” Scharff said. “Everything that they do should have an eye towards protecting the public safety. If Washington Metropolitan Police Department is engaged in selling firearms to the public, they have an obligation to the residents of D.C., to make sure that they are doing so safely and responsibly.”

Gun dealer had concerns about MPD’s practices

Shawn Poulin opened DC Security Associates in 2021. He is one of two FFLs in D.C. currently working with the public. He said he sees himself as the last check on responsible sales.

“We have a conscience just like everyone else. And we believe in responsible ownership,” he said.

Poulin opened his business months after MPD started operating as an FFL. At that time, MPD was the only licensed operating gun dealer in the District. D.C. police were then – and, according to everyone the I-Team talked to, is still – the only police department in America to help sell or have sold guns to the public. Federal records show D.C. police held a Type 1 federal firearms license, which the ATF defines as a “dealer in firearms other than destructive devices.”

Even before Poulin opened, he said D.C. police told him they wanted out of the gun business.

“They asked us to open early by four weeks?” Poulin told the I-Team at his D.C. location. “They were getting sick and tired of managing all those firearms they had down there. They had thousands of firearms waiting to be processed.”

D.C. police would not talk to the I-Team about Poulin’s claim.

When asked if he agreed with D.C. police getting into the gun business, “Heck, no,” Poulin told the I-Team, explaining, “My biggest point there for a while was if your firearms branch screws up, you’re going to inspect and enforce your own firearms branch?”

Looking back, Poulin said he was not surprised to see D.C. police on the list of dealers with guns that ended up at crime scenes.

“Does not surprise me one bit,” he said. “I walked in there, and it was, it was archaic. The processes, the systems they were using, to manage that process. It was archaic. I offered advice and offered little suggestions.”

D.C. police did not respond to that concern, either.

The I-Team also found Poulin’s business and the other D.C. FFL also received an ATF Demand 2 Program letter. Poulin told the I-Team his managers submit quarterly reports as required by the program and responded, “We don’t play games with (requests from the ATF).”

Few answers from DC police

After weeks of trying to obtain even basic answers from both D.C. police and the mayor’s office, the I-Team received few answers about the department’s time as an FFL. Brady’s Scharff told the I-Team D.C. residents deserve to know more about how their police department legally moved more than 8,000 handguns into the hands of District residents.

The trail started in 2012. At the time, D.C. had recently and repeatedly been in court over its stringent gun regulations and the 2008 Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller had upended many of them.

The D.C. Council passed a law in 2012 allowing the city to seek a license to sell guns to D.C. residents if no other private business would do so.

Eight years later as COVID-19 took hold in the District (and, as federal statistics show, gun purchases rose rapidly), D.C.’s longtime lone licensed dealer closed his business. A D.C. police spokesperson told the I-Team, “MPD was required to operate as an FFL from April 3, 2020, until January 4, 2021, to uphold a constitutional right in the District.”

The department would not say how many guns were eventually tracked to crime scenes, or if they told families D.C. police helped sell a gun used to injure their loved one. D.C. police would not tell us how many people were assigned to the gun dealing unit. Nor would they say if they ever refused a sale – as is a dealer’s right.

While D.C. police didn’t answer most specific questions the I-Team sent, even basic answers the department offered were confusing. D.C. police said it started dealing guns more than two weeks before Mayor Muriel Bowser’s order allowing them to do so. D.C. police has not offered any explanation.

The law that allowed D.C. police to get into the gun business also allowed them to charge $125 per firearm transfer. D.C. police confirmed it charged that much, meaning they brought in more than a million dollars. A spokesperson said the funds collected from the transfers went to the city’s general fund.

In a statement to the I-Team, a D.C. police spokesperson wrote, “MPD has never sold guns. MPD was required to operate as an FFL from April 3, 2020, until January 4, 2021, to uphold a constitutional right in the District. During that period, the department facilitated the legal transfer of 8,038 firearms.”

That spokesperson also said once MPD ceased operations as a gun dealer, the department complied with requirements to submit transaction records to the ATF.

DC mayor told Virginia to better oversee gun dealers months before DC became one

Before Bowser told D.C. police to get into the gun business, she criticized Virginia lawmakers for not overseeing dealers in the commonwealth strictly enough.

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In a letter she sent Virginia legislative leaders on Jan. 8, 2020, Bowser urged Virginia legislative leaders to do more to keep guns legally sold in Virginia from being used in DC crimes. “Illegal guns originating in Virginia are a key driver of gun crime in D.C.,” Bowser wrote. She continued, “According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, ATF data show that criminal or negligent gun dealers are responsible for ‘nearly half’ of the total number of trafficked firearms uncovered in ATF investigations.”

Four months later, she signed that mayor’s order authorizing D.C.’s police department to become a dealer themselves, and those ATF records show clearly, D.C. helped bring guns into the District eventually used in crime, too.

The I-Team asked about the letter and D.C. police’s role as a gun dealer two weeks ago. The mayor’s office acknowledged the questions but never answered them.

Reported by Ted Oberg, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Steve Jones.

Officers from D.C.’s Violent Crime Suppression Division were patrolling in the 2100 block of Bladensburg Road NE at about 9 p.m. when they saw a group of men in what police described as an altercation, police said.

After getting out of their patrol cars to try to break up the fight, officers saw that one of the men had a gun, police said.

According to police, that man ran from the scene and officers toward Bladensburg Road and V Street NE. During the chase, the officer fired his weapon and shot the man multiple times.

The man was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition.

Officers recovered a gun at the scene, police said.

The officer’s use of force and whether the man pulled out a gun or fired at officers is under investigation.

This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for updates.

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Reggie Brown died after he was brutally assaulted on Georgia Avenue NW early the morning of Oct. 17, 2023. A Metropolitan Police Department detective described him as being physically handicapped, with missing fingers on each hand and ongoing ailments.

A 12-year-old girl and two 13-year-old girls were arrested late last week and charged with murder. The man involved in the attack has still not been identified.

A four-and-a-half-hour court hearing on Friday revealed new details in the case.

The two 13-year-olds appeared in D.C. Superior Court, where Detective Harry Singleton called video of the deadly beating “horrific.” The attack was caught on surveillance video as well as cellphone video.

First, the man who would attack Brown “escorted” him across Georgia Avenue, Singleton testified. The man was wearing a blue coat.

According to what was caught on numerous cameras in the area, the man was the first person to assault Brown. He threw him against a wall and knocked him to the ground, the detective testified.

A prosecutor played several videos that showed a group of girls walking on Georgia Avenue. One girl asked the man if she could “fight him too.”

Videos show Brown managing to get up and try to get away.

The girls kicked and stomped on Brown and then left in a “celebratory” mood, cellphone video from a girl who was not charged showed, the detective said.

When officers arrived at the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue, near Rittenhouse Street, Brown was dead.

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“My uncle really didn’t deserve this,” a niece of Brown’s said in a statement to News4 on Friday. “He was known in this community for years so for this to happen where he lived for 64 [years] is insane. They have to be held accountable!”

A friend of Brown’s said he was stunned to hear that children were responsible for the attack.

“That’s rough. That’s rough. They need to pay the penalty if they did it,” he said.

There’s no indication that Brown knew the girls, the detective testified.

Singleton described a monthslong investigation, with detectives reviewing videos frame by frame to try to identify the attackers.

The parents of the 13-year-old girls, whose names were not released, were in court for the testimony on Friday. Testimony revealed that the girls missed weeks of school.

The judge found probable cause for charges of second-degree murder, assault and conspiracy and ordered the girls held in a secure juvenile facility.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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Maryland State Police initially responded to a crash at about 5 p.m. at Crain Highway and Village Drive, and a driver involved took off on foot, Maryland State Police said. According to two law enforcement sources, state police asked an off-duty D.C. officer for help looking for a suspect following the crash.

Shortly before 6 p.m., off-duty D.C. Lt. Daren Jones, who was in a marked police cruiser, saw the driver who ran from the earlier crash, identified as 28-year-old Ian Tilton, of Annapolis, on the road more than three miles away from the crash scene.

Jones called for assistance, and a Prince George’s County officer arrived at the scene, authorities said.

Tilton then allegedly “produced a knife and lunged at the Prince George’s County police officer,” Maryland State Police said.

The Prince George’s County officer tried to shock Tilton with a stun gun, but it was not effective, authorities said. During the struggle, Jones shot Tilton with his agency-issued gun.

Maryland State Police Aviation Command and Prince George’s County emergency medical services crews gave Tilton aid, Maryland State Police said.

Tilton was taken to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said. He did not survive.

Maryland State Police say their homicide unit is investigating the case.

While investigators believe the crash and police shooting are connected, they did not specifically say that Tilton was the driver who took off.

No officers were injured in the crash or gunfire.

The D.C. officer is now on administrative leave, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said. His body camera was activated, she said. D.C. police and the mayor’s office initially refused to provide information.

The D.C. officer is assigned to the special operations division where he supervises K-9 teams, a law enforcement source told News4.

Dozens of police vehicles could be seen on the busy road, which is by an industrial complex and wooded area. 

All northbound lanes of Crain Highway between Queen Anne Road and Trade Zone Avenue were closed for the investigation.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

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A driver parked on 14th Street just south of U Street at about 3 a.m. Sunday to pick up a McDonald’s food delivery order, a police report says. When he headed back to the car, it and Recardito were gone.

The driver’s car was recovered early Monday, but the 4-year-old bulldog wasn’t found until Monday evening.

Police continue to search for the suspect, who was caught on nearby cameras, police say.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to call police. A reward of up to $1,000 is available.

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After a spike in carjackings in 2023, carjackings are down so far this year, Metropolitan Police Department statistics say. In comparison to the same time last year, carjackings are down 17% and motor vehicle thefts are down 31%.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

Cameras captured the crime inside the store on I Street NW about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 17. Thieves wearing hooded sweatshirts, gloves and masks grabbed handfuls of merchandise before getting away.

One of the suspects set off a fire extinguisher multiple times, hitting a special police officer with its contents while others took merchandise, police said. 

The suspect with the fire extinguisher then removed his gloves, mask and hood and entered the bathroom for a minute or two before coming out and blending in as a customer as he left, according to court documents.

His face was caught on camera, and he was later identified as 18-year-old Romello Marquez of Northeast D.C., police said. Police arrested him Wednesday.

As the suspects were leaving, an armed security officer hired by the store fired once, but no one was hit. 

The thieves took 12 purses worth more than $100,000, according to court documents.

Marquez is charged with attempt to commit robbery while armed.

The same Chanel was robbed in February 2023. A flash mob in that incident also set off a fire extinguisher to create a distraction.

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Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith spoke live on News4 Today about the numbers and what the department is doing to keep the trend moving in the right direction.

In 2023, D.C. experienced the most violent year in more than two decades. A spike in homicides and carjackings led to congressional hearings and resulted in newly approved crime legislation from Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council. They authorized police tactics including designating drug-free zones in high-crime areas.

Smith said the new law will help police increase public safety.

“I hear the public when they say they want their communities back, and it’s our responsibility as a public-safety entity to do that, and this bill, this law, will help us do that,” she said.

D.C. had 274 homicides in 2023 – the most in 26 years – and close to 1,000 carjackings – the most ever recorded in a year.

Here’s a look at the DC crime drop so far this year

In the first two-and-a-half months of 2024, the numbers are down:

• homicides are down 32%
• carjackings are down 14%
• assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 34%
• overall violent crime is down 17%

Smith credited the new crime law and new deployments of officers for the drop in crime.

“We look at all of the data – intelligence-led data – to ensure that we are assigning our officers in the appropriate locations, and then we stood up a homicide-reduction partnership plan,” she said.

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MPD is working on stopping any summertime increase in crime before it starts, Smith said.

“We are still thriving. The culture of D.C. is still where it was many years ago. What I want people to know is, you have a public safety team that is very passionate about reducing crime. and we’re not gonna wait for the summer to do that; we’re starting right now,” she said.

She acknowledged that hiring and retaining officers is a challenge. The department has 3,323 officers now, and Smith said having 4,000 officers would ideal. A newly launched in-person recruiting team is at work in D.C. and across the U.S.

Despite the officer shortage, arrests for carjackings are up 88% over this time last year.

Smith said no one was arrested in connection to the drug-free zones last week. The department announced the locations of two new drug-free zones where enhanced enforcement will start on Wednesday, March 20. They will be in Northeast, around the 1200 block of Mount Olivet Road NE, and in Northwest, around the 4000 block of Georgia Avenue NW.

The suspects charged with armed carjacking are two 15-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy.

The crime happened on Thursday at around 6:07 p.m. in the 700 block of Lamont Street NW, police said. 

“The victim told officers that he was sitting in his car when a suspect approached him. The suspect pointed a gun at him while demanding the victim get out of the car,” D.C. police said in a news release. 

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A second suspect then approached and told the victim to get his child, of unspecified age, out of the vehicle, authorities said. The victim complied and the teens allegedly took off.

A police helicopter was able to track down the car “less than 15 minutes later,” according to MPD. 

Dramatic bystander video shows how at least three officers ran behind the stolen car, at one point trying to open a door.

Police said the suspects abandoned the car at 11th and R streets NW and fled on foot.

The helicopter was able to locate the teenagers and they were arrested, authorities said. Police also said they found a firearm. 

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Charles Edward Owens, 24, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder while armed. Owens was already in custody at the D.C. jail, police said.

‘Ari, don’t die’: 10-year-old shot in car after family left celebration

On the evening of May 14, 2023, Arianna’s family was driving in the 3700 block of Hayes Street NE, west of DC-295, when they saw multiple people get out of a car directly behind them.

The people from that car began shooting, police said.

Witnesses said they heard more than 50 shots. Arianna’s family believes their car was struck by other people returning fire, police said.

A witness in the victims’ car told investigators they weren’t aware Arianna was hurt until a younger child in the car said, “Ari, don’t die.”

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The family then rushed to a firehouse, and Arianna was taken to a hospital.

She died three days later.

At her funeral, her grandfather, Everette Douglas, said he misses her every day.

“I just wish more, this violence would stop,” he said. “Because it could have been anybody else’s child.”

Owens is the third man to be charged in Arianna’s murder.

“Since the shooting, the community has provided numerous tips and video evidence,” police said in a release Wednesday. “Through community cooperation and the tireless work of MPD’s Homicide Branch, detectives were able to identify the suspects.”

Karon Gregory, 19, of Southeast D.C., was arrested last September. Then, 19-year-old Dallas McKinney, also of Southeast D.C., was arrested in January. Both are also charged with first-degree murder while armed. 

Scammers are impersonating members of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, calling residents and claiming there’s a warrant out for their arrest for not appearing at jury duty. The scammer says that with a payment, the warrant can be removed.

“The Metropolitan Police Department will never solicit anyone for monetary funds, bank information, or Social Security numbers,” the department said Monday.

MPD shared these tips:

• “Don’t feel pressured to act. Scammers may have some public information about you (like your name and address), but that does not mean they are legitimate. Verify by contacting the appropriate agency directly using customer service info on their public websites.
• MPD will never demand payment by phone. Do not share your credit card number, personal information, or other financial information. Do not wire transfer money or transfer funds to anyone you do not know.
• Share what you know with others. By telling your friends and family members about the scam, you can help protect your community.”

The D.C. courts’ active warrant list can be found here. Go here for info on a jury summons – and who to contact if you have already fallen victim to the scam.

Fairfax County court officials have warned of a similar scam.

“We regularly receive calls about jurors getting contacted by a person claiming to be a Deputy Sheriff and requesting money transactions and threatening an existing bench warrant and/or jail if they do not transfer money. This is a scam! Do not give any personal information or send money,” Circuit Court officials said.

Sgt. Enis Jevric, 42, initially was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old An’Twan Gilmore.

Officers found Gilmore asleep in a car at New York Avenue NE and Florida Avenue NE with a gun in his waistband about 3 a.m. Aug. 25, 2021, police said.

Jervic had another officer to knock on the window of the car to wake Gilmore, at which point the car moved forward several feet, stopped, then moved forward again, the prosecution said. Police ordered him to stop, and Jervic fired 10 shots, striking Gilmore three times.

Gilmore was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“Officer Jevric violated the Constitution and abused his position by recklessly using deadly force where none was necessary, resulting in the tragic and unjustified loss of Mr. Gilmore’s life — a tragedy that has permanently changed the lives of Mr. Gilmore’s family and friends,” U.S. Attorney Matt Graves said in a news release.

An attorney for Gilmore’s family said they are disappointed with the plea to the lesser charge.

“He acknowledged that he did so intentionally,” Brian McDaniel said. “Because he did so intentionally, it’s the family’s position that he should not be given the opportunity to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.”

He believes Jevric could be facing about seven years in prison.

“Certainly, that’s one step towards acceptance of responsibility, but it’s not responsibility for the level of harm that Officer Jevric did to the family,” McDaniel said. “They are still living with the loss of An’Twan.”

He said the legal process has been difficult for the Gilmore family as they still grapple with the loss.

“It causes new pain and new trauma, and so they continue to try to heal themselves, even in the face of the fact that An’Twan won’t be returning to them,” McDaniel said.

A judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 1.

An officer was alerted to a potential armed robbery near 8th Street and Florida Avenue NW at about 8 a.m. It was then reported that two potential suspects ran inside an unoccupied building in the 2000 block of Georgia Avenue, D.C. police said.

Officers searched the building, located the suspects and took them into custody without incident just before 11 a.m., according to police.

No injuries were reported.

The incident did not impact Howard’s campus or its hospital, police said.

Several roads, including part of U Street, were closed to traffic during the barricade situation. Here’s a list of closures:

• Florida Ave, NW between 9th Street and 7th Street, NW
• 900 U Street, NW
• 1800 -1900 Block of 7th Street, NW
• Georgia Ave, NW between Barry Pl, NW and Florida Ave, NW
• V Street between 9th and Georgia Ave, NW.

Additional information was not immediately released.

This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for updates.

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Two people are believed to have opened fire at each other in the 3400 block of 13th Place SE in the Congress Heights neighborhood at about 8:20 p.m., D.C. police said.

The boy’s mother, who did not want to be identified, said she was working for DoorDash and searching for a delivery’s drop-off location when gunfire erupted. 

She said she was startled, and then quickly realized her son had been struck in the groin area. They both ran for cover and called 911.

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The 10-year-old was released from the hospital and is now recovering at home, his mother said. 

“We do not believe he was the intended target of this situation. What we do have is evidence that shows he may have gotten caught between two individuals shooting at one another,” Commander LaShay Makal, of the D.C. police 7th district, said. 

On Monday, police investigators were once again combing the scene trying to find evidence.

They released surveillance images of a suspect and suspect vehicle that were captured by nearby cameras.

Luis Garcia, who works in the neighborhood, said he feels uncomfortable and concerned about his security. Others told News4 off camera that they were heartbroken to hear about the violence. 

The shooting highlights the dangerous situations food delivery drivers often face in the DMV.

Last year, researchers at Georgetown University surveyed 41 local delivery drivers. They found that 51% said they felt unsafe on the job, with 41% reporting they had experienced assaults or harassments.

The mother of the boy said she’s unsure whether she’ll continue her work as a delivery driver.

Police are offering a reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

John Raymond Conner is accused of attacking women starting as far back as 2009, tying up victims at knifepoint, police say. The Northeast D.C. resident was arrested this week and charged in two cases. His lawyer declined comment.

The victims include a woman visiting her friend’s grave, a school custodian doing her job and a hairstylist asleep in her bed.

Court documents reveal upsetting details. A woman who was visiting her best friend’s grave in Suitland, Maryland, told police a stranger blindfolded her, forced her into the woods at knifepoint and raped her.

DNA from the case matched Conner in 2012. But the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney declined to prosecute, citing inconsistent statements from the alleged victim.

In August 2009, an elementary school custodian was at work on Douglass Street SE when Conner came in and raped her at knifepoint, police say.

In December of that year, investigators say he punched, strangled and raped his pregnant girlfriend. Court documents say he was angry that she wanted an abortion.

Conner entered a plea in court for sexual abuse and kidnapping and was sentenced to four years.

Fourteen years later, in April 2023, court documents say Conner got his hair cut at an apartment in Mount Vernon Square. Investigators say he raped his hairdresser at knifepoint on and off for seven hours.

Conner was recently charged with the attacks on the custodian and hairdresser.

Court documents say it often took months for rape kits to be tested. Investigators eventually used DNA evidence to connect all the cases.

Conner is due in court for a preliminary hearing next week.

This hub will address various needs in real time, including behavioral outreach services for substance abuse disorders, mental health resources and services for the homeless, D.C. City Administrator Kevin Donahue said.

“Well, we know presence matters. So, public safety is an all of government approach. We know when public safety is present and that presence is sustained, we see crime go down,” Donahue said.

The space will be open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. D.C. police will have 24/7 access to the building and will use it as a home base to patrol the neighborhood.

“We also know from experience that when public safety and law enforcement have regular connections with human services with behavioral health, they often strengthen each other’s work,” Donahue said.

He added that this usually suppresses crime and improves public safety.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser plans to open two more hubs in U Street and Anacostia.

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A large crowd of Metropolitan Police Department officers greeted the three wounded officers outside MedStar Washington Hospital Center on Thursday morning.

One officer walked out with his right arm bandaged as he held a woman’s hand. Another used a wheelchair and had a blanket draped over his lap as he smiled, waved and shook hands with colleagues. A third man walked out holding a woman’s hand and hugged the officers there to greet him.

Chief of Police Pamela Smith said the officers’ release marks a “great day.”

“It’s a good feeling when we can see our officers walking out of the hospital or even going out in a wheelchair,” she said.

Smith said she offered her support and the officers said they would return to work.

“One of them shouted out to me, ‘Don’t worry, chief. We’ll be right back,’” she said.

Police say an animal cruelty suspect shot the officers as they tried to serve him with an arrest warrant early Wednesday. He remained barricaded in a home on Hanna Place SE for 13 hours and continued to fire gunshots. Nearly schools were locked down and entire city blocks were closed.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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The victim was identified as Donte Dudley, 22, of Northeast, according to the D.C. police.

Officers were called to 1200 block of Raum St. NE in the Trinidad neighborhood at about 9:50 p.m., police said.

Dudley was found dead inside an apartment.

Another man was found shot in the street and was taken to the hospital with not life-threatening injuries.

Two other adult men were hurt and walked to the hospital, police said.

Information on a suspect was not immediately released.

Police are offering a $25,000 reward for any information that can lead to an arrest.

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Na’eem Butler, 20, of Herndon, Virginia, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with second-degree murder while armed, according to police.

The October shooting took place at 9th and U streets NW in front of Nellie’s Sports Bar when Diamonte Lewis, a 24-year-old father of two, was killed.

Ashton Inabinet, 16, of Alexandria, Virginia, previously was charged with second degree-murder while armed.

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Two men and one woman were shot in the 4500 block of Quarles Street NE at around 9:30 p.m., police said. 

Authorities said all victims are conscious and breathing, but did not elaborate on their injuries.

No suspect information was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Police placed the packages on the steps of a private residence in Northeast D.C. and waited for someone to take the bait.

After the packages were swiped, police tracked the AirTags and arrested the suspect.

The operation was the direct result of many citizen complaints, 5th District Cmdr. Sylvan Altieri said. 

“Even though there are violent crime issues throughout the District of Columbia, when we go to these community meetings and we talk to members, citizens part of what they speak about is things like package thefts, retail theft, traffic issues,” he said. “Because people want to live a life.”

Nationwide, thefts of packages from front porches and stoops cost U.S. consumers and businesses an estimated $19 million in 2022, according to a study by Forbes Business. A whopping 79% of Americans surveyed reported having a package stolen from their front porch, the study found. Of the stolen packages, 52% were from Amazon. 

“It’s a hard crime to really deal with, because it’s very random,” Altieri said. “I mean, people walk around, they steal. So, we started looking at the thing, like, how are we going to solve this? We can’t have officers just driving around trying to hopefully see someone steal a package.”

He said his officers are looking for 5th District residents willing to volunteer their porches. Having a doorbell camera would help.

“If we have someone on video actually taking the package, we can charge them with theft,” Altieri said. “If we have them after the fact and it’s just an apprehension, we can charge them with RSP, receiving stolen property.”

D.C. police released body camera footage on Wednesday that shows the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of a man who was the subject of a mental health intervention last week on N. Capitol Street.

Police also identified the man who was killed as Clifford Brooks of Northeast D.C. He was 41.

The response to a mental health crisis call in the 2500 block of Benning Road NE began at about 6:45 a.m. on Jan. 24.

A trained crisis intervention officer was among those who responded, and engaged in a conversation with Brooks “for nearly two hours,” Chief Pamela Smith said.

First responders were taking Brooks to go to a hospital via ambulance for treatment, with the crisis officer following behind in his cruiser. Authorities said that during the ambulance ride, Brooks became agitated and assaulted a woman firefighter/paramedic who was alone with him inside. Brooks was not in custody or handcuffed at the time.

The bodycam footage begins after Brooks jumped out of the ambulance. Video shows him engaging with and shoving an officer, when the crisis intervention officer runs up and deploys O.C. spray.

Brooks then runs into traffic on N. Capitol Street, bodycam video shows. Police chase him, while reporting their location and the fact that they used pepper spray.

Later, the crisis intervention officer approaches a stopped box truck. Another officer is already there, standing near a curb and looking toward the truck. Both officers say “he’s under the truck.”

Moments later, Brooks emerges, holding something and moving quickly toward the crisis intervention officer.

One officer shouts “drop it” multiple times. The crisis intervention officer yells, “He’s got a knife,” and then fires six shots. Brooks collapses, and the officer orders him to “stay down.”

The object Brooks was holding is believed to have been a tire pressure gauge 6 to 8 inches long, according to law enforcement sources and a photo released by the department.

The ambulance crew began life-saving efforts, but Brooks died at the scene.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Metropolitan Police Department will need to address two central questions in the ensuing investigation. First, though police initially said Brooks had gone voluntarily into the ambulance, on Wednesday night they said that might not have been the case. If Brooks was not going voluntarily, he should have been handcuffed and an officer should have ridden with him. Second, they will ask if each shot fired was warranted.

The officer who shot Brooks was placed on administrative leave. He has been on the force for over 30 years and has extensive training on how to respond to mental health crises.

“Any loss of life is tragic, and I want to extend my condolences to the family of the individual who lost his life,” Smith said.

The police investigation will be reviewed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

Last year was a tough year with 109 juveniles shot in D.C. This year, five have already been shot. But that number is down nearly half from the same time last year.

D.C. Assistant Police Chief Andre Wright knows this city better than most. Growing up in D.C., he’s seen the unique opportunities it can offer its young people. But he’s also seen what it can take, having patrolled and commanded in some of the toughest neighborhoods. He now leads the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth and Family Engagement Bureau and says seeing kids gunned down on the streets of his hometown has taken a toll on him.

“Every time I see it, every time I experience, I’m on the scene quite a few times of these things. It’s not anything that you ever get used to or want to get used to,” said Wright. “I’m not used to it. I’m still not. Twenty-nine years of law enforcement, it still grates me and it still shakes me when I come on a scene and I see what was to be our future.”

While the number of juveniles shot in the District have steadily climbed since 2021, Wright is confident the trend can be turned around.

“Do I think that we could turn this around? I absolutely think we can do it. I think we will,” he said. “I think that this goes back to, A, having hope. B, making sure that everybody, everybody … has to play a responsibility in this. It cannot just be the conversation of what is the police doing.”

Wright is not passing the buck on officers’ roles in curbing youth violence. D.C. has plenty of programs aimed at cutting it, and the city’s struggles to arrest and prosecute young people involved in crime are well documented.

But he told the I-Team arrests can’t be the only police interaction that redirects a kid, which makes places like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America so important.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my interaction with the Boys & Girls Clubs,” said Wright.

Kids who grow up around the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington in Northeast, like Wright did, are no strangers to violent crime.  He assigns some of his officers to be there after school hoping to grow those relationships with police early.

“Our officers are here in the evenings, when they get here, when they get out of school,” Wright said.

But Wright knows many of the department’s officers are already stretched too thin, the pace of the job just keeps them too busy.

“They’re exhausted from working eight-, 10-, 12-, 16-hour days, running to and from and don’t really have the opportunity that I once had and others once had when we were strong in our numbers,” he said.

And yet even that hasn’t destroyed his belief that it’s going to be better.

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“I hope and pray for these young folks that they get a chance to do what I did, which is outlive their mistakes,” Wright said.

When the I-Team asked him what keeps him up, what scares him, he paused for a few seconds.

“People who don’t have hope scare me. People who don’t believe that a better day is coming. People who have sentenced our youth in this city to a death sentence saying that they’re a lost generation. People who talk like that. People who believe and move in that in that manner. They scare me. They scare me,” he said. “Because you have to have hope. You have to have faith. You have to believe, first and foremost, that that better day is coming.”

Reported by Ted Oberg, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Steve Jones.

When Michael Smith graduates from the police academy in April, he’ll be almost 61 years old

“I’m proud that I have an opportunity to give back to the community and fulfill one of my dreams, but I think that age has nothing to do with it,” he said. “If you’re physically fit and mentally fit and you’re willing to really dedicate the time necessary to fulfill this opportunity and dream, you can do it. I’m a prime example. A perfect example.”

Smith wanted to be a police officer growing up in New York City, where his father was a police sergeant. But his basketball talent took him in another direction.

“God had different plans for me, so I went overseas and played basketball, professional basketball, 15 years. Coached professional basketball for 10 years,” Smith said. “But I had to fulfill my bucket list. Now, it’s time to come back and fulfill my all-time dream, and that’s being a law enforcement.”

Smith was part of two international championships and along the way played with NBA greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

Now, he’s making his dream of being a police officer come true.

“I’m just here to fulfill my dream and show myself, my family, who are behind me 100%, to fulfill my bucket list, my ambition, lifetime dream,” Smith said. “And if it’s four or five years, I’m going to dedicate 100% to do it. I’m giving my best and showing everybody during those five years that Michael Smith enjoyed his time and he did the best he can. And I hope that also passed down to the younger generation and my colleagues.”

The Metropolitan Police Department has a mandatory retirement age of 65, meaning Smith might not reach one goal.

“I wish I could have enough time to maybe be a sergeant like my father,” he said. “My father was a sergeant, like I said, in NYPD, and that was my ambition. If I could have stayed here and least had enough time to at least be the same as him, that would have been a beautiful objective for me to go out.”

Smith chose D.C. police after reading about former Chief Robert Contee, who joined the department while he was still in high school.

Because Smith will be forced to retire in less than five years, he won’t qualify for any pension, but he said that’s not important to him.

Officer Alan Miller was the previous oldest rookie officer when he joined in 2021 at 55 years old after eight years in the military and 19 years with the post office. He is one of nine current officers who joined the department in their 50s.

Dallas McKinney, of Southeast D.C., is accused of first-degree murder while armed. 

Arianna’s family had celebrated Mother’s Day and was in the 3700 block of Hayes Street NE, west of DC-295, when a barrage of gunshots was fired, police said. Witnesses said they heard more than 50 shots.

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The car Arianna was riding in was directly behind the suspect vehicle when the family saw multiple people get out of the car and begin shooting, police said.

Arianna’s family believes their car was struck by other people returning fire, police said.

A witness in the victims’ car told investigators they weren’t aware Arianna was injured until a younger child in the car said, “Ari, don’t die.”

When the family realized the child had been shot in the upper body, they rushed to a firehouse. She was then rushed to a hospital.

Arianna died three days later. 

“Since the shooting, the community came forward with a number of tips and video evidence. Through community cooperation and the tireless work of MPD’s Homicide Branch, detectives were able to identify suspects,” D.C. police said.

The first suspect, 19-year-old Karon Gregory, of Southeast, was arrested in September 2023. He was also charged with first-degree murder while armed, authorities said.

Investigators are still searching for more suspects who were involved in the shooting and urged anyone who knows anything to come forward.

D.C. police are offering a reward of $45,000 for information leading to an additional arrest. Nearly half of that amount was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Clifford Brooks, of Northeast D.C., was killed, the Metropolitan Police Department said. He was 41.

The shooting occurred in the 1300 block of N. Capitol Street, at New York Avenue, and prompted a large emergency response.

“This is a tragic situation, and our condolences go to the family,” D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said.

A number of officers could be seen on N. Capitol Street beneath the bridge for New York Avenue. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) officers also were on scene. About 15 shell casings could be seen near an ambulance.

The officer who shot the man is a trained crisis intervention officer who had tried for hours to calm him, police said.

Here’s what police say happened

Metropolitan Police Department officers and members of D.C. Fire and EMS responded to the 2500 block of Benning Road NE at about 6:45 a.m., Chief of Police Pamela Smith said. A 911 caller said a man was having a mental health crisis.

A trained crisis intervention officer was among those who responded, Smith said.

“For nearly two hours, they engaged in [a] crisis intervention conversation with him,” the chief said.

First responders began to take the man to a hospital via ambulance for treatment, with the crisis officer following behind in his cruiser. During the ambulance ride, the man became agitated and assaulted a woman firefighter/paramedic who was alone with him inside the ambulance. The man was not in custody or handcuffed at the time.

The firefighter/paramedic was able to slip out the side door of the ambulance and flee, and the man followed her outside.

More officers were called to the scene. An officer deployed O.C. spray to try to stop the man and the assault, but it did not take effect, Smith said.

The man ran through traffic on N. Capitol Street and was found hiding under a truck. He emerged from beneath it holding a “metal object raised in his hand.” Smith declined to say what the object was.

The object was a tire pressure gauge, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told News4. An object that appeared to be a tire pressure gauge and was 6 to 8 inches long could be seen near an evidence marker.

A statement issued by police on Thursday morning said: “The officer directed the man to drop the metal object, but he refused and moved towards him with the object raised. The officer retreated backwards and again directed the man to drop the metal object. The man charged towards the officer, grabbed at him, and swung the metal object at him. At that time, the officer discharged his firearm, striking the man.”

The ambulance crew began life-saving efforts, but the man was pronounced dead.

The firefighter/paramedic and officer who police say the man attacked received minor injuries and were not taken to the hospital, Donnelly said.

Streets in the area were shut down for hours.

The officer was placed on administrative leave. He has been on the force for over 30 years and has extensive training on how to respond to mental health crises.

An independent investigation will be conducted, Smith said. How many shots the officer fired will be determined through the investigation, she said.

“Any loss of life is tragic, and I want to extend my condolences to the family of the individual who lost his life,” the police chief said.

The police investigation will be reviewed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. Under D.C. law, the police department has until next week to officially release the officer’s body-worn camera video, unless the family of the man who was killed objects.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

According to police data, in 2023 there were 958 carjackings and only 173 arrests. Police hope in 2024, they’ll be able to solve significantly more of these cases using helicopters. 

“It helps us to coordinate throughout the District, Maryland and Virginia area, and to kind of bring everybody’s resources to play to stop these spree offenses,” MPD Inspector Michael Pulliam said. 

Police said their chopper played a crucial role over the weekend, when a rideshare driver picked up a group of teenagers near the D.C./Maryland line on South Capitol Street. Authorities said the teens assaulted the driver and then took off.

With the help of the helicopter and increased communication with neighboring law enforcement agencies, police were able to arrest the suspects. 

Those strategies were introduced over the summer as part of MPD’s Robbery Suppression Initiative.

“These carjacked vehicles are often then used very shortly in other offenses. It may be a chain of robberies. It may be shootings or other violent offenses,” Pulliam said.  

Police said since launching the Robbery Suppression Initiative on Aug. 1, 2023, they’ve tripled their time in the sky with the helicopters.

“We can minimize vehicular pursuits, which makes it safer for the districts and the officers and the actual subject within that vehicle,” Lt. Andrew Horos, of the department’s Air Support Unit, said. 

While the department said the initiative has led to a downward trend in carjackings, police data shows this type of crime was still happening a lot more often in 2023 than it was in 2022. From the day the initiative was launched until the end of the year, 379 carjackings were reported. During that same time period in 2022, there were 195 carjackings.

Though there may still be plenty of work to be done, the department is hopeful their new strategy will make streets safer.

“As they make those arrests and those numbers are going down, it’s a morale boost to everyone involved,” Horos said.

It’s hard not to smile when you see the 5-week-old pups: they’re affectionate, friendly and incredibly cute. That’s what made it all the more heartbreaking when they were taken away.

Authorities said the victim was loading the puppies in her Mazda CX-3, which was parked in the 1700 block of U Street SE around noon on Saturday.

She then went inside her house “for no more than two minutes,” according to a police report.

“I stepped back in to get my bag and my coat. Went to go back outside, and the car was gone,” the owner, who did not want to provide her name out of concern for her safety, said. “Where are my babies? I just felt helpless.”

By the next morning, police had tracked her car, but the puppies were nowhere to be found. As a dog breeder and veterinary technician, she feared the worst.

“They’re still too young to care for themselves or do anything. I didn’t want them to be abused just to be sold–anything done with them. That’s not what they’re for. They’re American bullies. They’re companion animals. That’s what they’re being raised as,” she said.

She and her fellow breeders got to posting on social media about the missing pups. On Sunday afternoon, she got the call she was waiting for: someone had found seven of the puppies at Benning Road and 42^nd Street NE and turned them into police.

“Tears of joy. I was just ecstatic,” the owner said.

But the news was bittersweet. One of the puppies is still missing. They are dark in color with white markings.

The victim said it’s hard not knowing where he is, but is thankful the rest are healthy and doing well.

“I’m hoping to get him back, but if not, I at least hope that he’s being taken care of properly,” she said.

D. C. police are still searching for the thief who stole the car and the animals. The owner hopes the suspect is caught soon.

“You’re taking a piece of our family. You’re taking something that we’ve worked hard for. Something that we’ve put time into,” she said.

Police do not believe the citizen who found the dogs was involved with the theft.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department.

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Paramedics responded to the report of a shooting on the seventh floor of the Embassy Suites Hotel on Military Road NW about 1:15 a.m. Monday. They were told on arrival that the victim was in cardiac arrest.

Ashlei Hinds, of Clinton, Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Metropolitan Police Department said. She was a freshman at Louisiana State University, the school confirmed.

The victim’s mother, Tiffany Falden, said her daughter was home on holiday break, and that she was the student government president in her senior year at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

“Just loving, caring, a great heart, loves children, loves her family. [She was] just an all-around good girl. Never been in trouble a day in her life,” Falden said.

Police arrested 18-year-old Jelani Cousin of Northeast D.C. on Tuesday and charged him with second-degree murder while armed.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said about 10 people were attending a party inside a hotel room when a shooter opened fire.

Falden said her daughter had decided to go with a friend to a New Year’s Eve party at the hotel. Family members heard some uninvited people may have crashed the party.

Guests at the Embassy Suites said they heard two gunshots and then screaming.

It’s not clear if Hinds was the shooter’s intended target.

“She’s lived an amazing life and this wasn’t for her. This wasn’t her,” the victim’s mother said. “She’s not a street person. She doesn’t do that. She is around family or her friends all the time, but not a partyer or anything like that.”

Hinds’ grandmother, Sandra Thomas, said her granddaughter was a churchgoer and had recently asked her grandfather, a pastor, for her own Bible. It arrived a day before she was killed.

“Ashlei was amazing. I mean, there was nothing that she didn’t want to try, you know. She was always willing to help everybody. And sometimes she would tell me, ‘I’ll do that for you, Nana,’ or, ‘Let me get that,’ ‘Need me to help?’ She was always willing to help,” Thomas said.

Police said as many as six people left the room before police arrived.

Video shows police vehicles near an entrance to the Embassy Suites less than a block from the Friendship Heights Metro station on the D.C.-Maryland line. Hotel management said they were cooperating with police in the investigation.

Hinds was killed just after D.C. ended the previous year with 274 homicides. According to preliminary figures released Monday, homicides in 2023 were the highest in more than two decades — since 1997, when there were 302. Homicides were up about 35% from 2022, according to D.C. police data.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she is working to reverse this trend with new legislation that has yet to be passed.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.

The new year wasn’t even two hours old when D.C. paramedics were sent to the Embassy Suites Hotel on Military Road NW for the report of a shooting on the seventh floor. They were told on arrival that the victim was in cardiac arrest.

Ashalei Hinds, of Clinton, Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said.

Hinds was a freshman at Louisiana State University, the school confirmed on Tuesday.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said about 10 people were attending a party inside a hotel room when a shooter opened fire.

Several guests at the Embassy Suites said they heard two gunshots and then screaming at about 1:15 a.m. Each room at the hotel has a picture window next to the door. In the room where the shooting took place, that window was shattered. It’s unclear whether it was shattered by gunfire or something else.

It’s not clear if Hinds was the killer’s intended target. Police said they were looking for a male who fled the scene wearing black clothing and a black ski mask.

In an update Tuesday, police distributed a photo of the suspect in the crime. He was captured by surveillance cameras, police said.

Investigators also are still looking for as many as six people who were in the room but left before police arrived.

Video shows police vehicles near an entrance to the Embassy Suites less than a block from the Friendship Heights Metro station on the D.C.-Maryland line. Hotel management said they were cooperating with police in the investigation.

Hinds was killed just after D.C. ended the previous year with 274 homicides. According to preliminary figures released Monday, homicides in 2023 were the highest in more than two decades — since 1997, when there were 302. Homicides were up about 35% from 2022, according to MPD data.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she is working to reverse this trend with new legislation that has yet to be passed.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.

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Holiday shoppers were still out and about at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, in the 900 block of F Street NW when the Metropolitan Police Department officer opened fire.

According to police, officers spotted a man who police say they believed was carrying a gun in his waistband. As officers approached him, he fled. Police provided preliminary details the night of the shooting.

“As the officers were attempting to stop that individual, a firearm was displayed. One officer discharged a round at the individual,” Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said.

The video shows an officer chasing the man down the sidewalk and yelling at him.

“Put your hands up!” he says on video.

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The man appears to slip and fall, get back up and continue to run away, at which point the officer fires one shot.

“Shot fired. Don’t move, don’t move,” he said.

Even slowing down the video, which was blurred by police, it’s unclear if the man draws a weapon and points it at police, or if the man was facing police when he was shot.

As an officer handcuffs the suspect, the man tells police he’s been shot.

“Excuse me. I’m bleeding,” he says.

“Nobody cares. Shut your mouth,” someone is heard replying.

As police search the man, an officer points to a handgun on the sidewalk.

“The weapon is right there,” someone says.

According to police, the loaded semi-automatic handgun was recovered near the man, a 27-year-old.

Police charged him with assault on a police officer, possession of a controlled substance and six firearms charges, including unlawful possession and carrying a pistol without a license.

The officer was placed on routine administrative leave pending an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Police say the man’s injuries were not life-threatening, that no officers were injured and that it did not appear that the man fired his weapon. Police declined to answer any follow-up questions about the shooting.

“In our neighborhood, a lot of people have doorbell cameras, garage door cameras, and they’re really quick to make everyone aware,” a resident said.

Earlier this week, a man broke into Annie’s Ace Hardware on 8^th Street NE. Inside the store, he broke down a cage door to get to power tools before stuffing a black trash bag with other items.

The owner of the store said the burglar got away with $500 worth of tools and caused $2,000 in damage to one of his doors.

Surveillance cameras recorded the burglary.

The business was one of multiple Northeast locations 35-year-old Christopher Flood allegedly broke into, including a few homes and Paulist Evangelization Ministries, an all-male seminary school, police said.

He was strategic about the places he burglarized and destroyed property, police said.

“He was really kind of targeting places that were a little bit out of the way, not maybe lit as well as they could be,” said District Cmdr. Sylvan Altieri said.

“He had a pry bar, but the way the handle was shaped, the color, was, like, super distinctive,” Altieri said. 

Neighbors and their security camera video helped police narrow in on the suspect, providing certain clues to what he was wearing.

“We were able to not just put together a good description of the suspect, but there were certain things that were really key identifiers for this,” Altieri said.

“We were not only able to determine the houses that he got into, but, like, his flight path,” he said.

Officers caught Flood Thursday night breaking into a home on Hamlin Street, police said.

“Anything that we can do to help the police do their job and to try to push back on some of the increase that we’re seeing in the crime these days,” the resident said.

Cameras captured the crime inside the store on I Street NW at around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Thieves wearing hooded sweatshirts and what appear to be rubber gloves grab handfuls of merchandise before escaping.

“One of the suspects discharged a fire extinguisher multiple times with its contents striking a Special Police Officer while the other suspects took merchandise from the store,” D.C. police said in an update Wednesday. 

As the suspects were leaving, an armed security officer hired by the store fired once, but no one was shot. 

Police said they are looking for a white sedan seen leaving the scene. Video also caught one suspect’s face. 

The same Chanel was robbed back in February. A flash mob in that incident also set off a fire extinguisher to create a distraction.

Anyone with information should call police at (202) 727-9099 or text a tip to 50411. D.C. police are offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

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The shooting happened at around 8:30 p.m. in the 900 block of F Street NW, in Penn Quarter, MPD Executive Assistant Jeffrey Carroll said at a news conference. The scene is steps away from Downtown Holiday Market, Capital One Arena and the National Portrait Gallery.

Police said they were attempting to stop the man because they suspected he was armed, but did not specify what he was doing with the gun.

The man then ran from officers, and during the chase he displayed a firearm, according to authorities. 

An officer fired once, hitting the man in the lower body, Carroll said. 

The man was arrested and given medical treatment, and is now stable at a hospital, according to police. 

A gun was recovered on the scene, authorities said. There is no indication that the man fired at officers. 

The officers involved are on a routine administrative leave. Bodycam footage captured the shooting and is being reviewed, according to the department.

At the Metropolitan Police Department training academy on Monday, officers demonstrated new tactics they’re being taught on how to approach and de-escalate a situation in which a person is armed with a weapon other than a gun.

“I understand you’re really upset, but for my safety and yours, could I please – I’m gonna ask you again – could you just put the knife down for me so I can talk to you?” an officer said in one training scenario.

Chief of Police Pamela Smith told reporters that often people who show a weapon are dealing with a personal or mental health crisis.

“We want our officers to demonstrate empathy, passion and care, but also to not be afraid to take the necessary law enforcement actions in order to protect our community,” she said.

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The new training will supplement existing training. Since 2009, D.C. police have received training in crisis intervention and mental health awareness. About one-third of D.C. officers are certified in crisis intervention.

By the end of 2024, every officer will have the 16-hour training, Smith said. New recruits will get the lessons in the academy.

“When we come into contact with individuals who are suffering from mental crisis, I want our officers to have the best training and the best tool in order to address them,” she said.

Those three women told News4’s Aimee Cho that they were very nervous to come forward and file the lawsuit, because they still work for MPD. But with supervisors that allegedly either did nothing or retaliated against them when they complained, they say they’re tired of living in fear.

The women are suing the District and the mayor’s office for sexual harassment and gender discrimination, asking for damages of $2 million each.

In the lawsuit, they allege an “old boys club” culture at D.C. police, with systemic bullying and retaliation.

They also describe how supervisors allegedly tried to date and harass the employees, telling News4 about some of the inappropriate comments they allegedly received from higher-ranking officers.

“Like, little things of how he was so unhappy with his wife, who lives at home with him, she wasn’t having sex with him, how he finds me attractive, and how he wants to take me out,” said Brandy Smith, an officer with the MPD.

“He started threatening me with… if you tell that I did this, that and the third, I’ll make sure you’re fired.”

Diana Walker, another officer with the MPD, had a similar story.

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“I’ve been dealing with sexual harassment basically my whole career,” she said. “Nothing ever gets done. I feel like it’s always sweeped under the rug.”

That lack of help — and active harm, in some cases — takes a mental toll.

“To know that you made a complaint and no one, no one from the agency reached out to me, was — it’s been very difficult, stressful,” said Karen Ervin, a customer service representative for the MPD.

News4 has reached out to D.C. police, the mayor’s office and the office of attorney general for comment, and is still waiting to hear back.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves has been criticized in recent months for the way his office handles cases.

“I believe that the U.S. Attorney Graves is at fault,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). “He’s clearly behind on prosecuting criminals. I think his priorities are in the wrong place right now.”

Graves has been defending his office, pointing out how some laws are hindering cases, like the rules that govern body camera footage for D.C. police. Graves said cases are dropped on a regular basis because the officer’s narrative does not match the video from the camera.   

“I tell everyone all the time, if you think of walking into a room, if you walk into a room and there are a bunch of people there, odds are if you try to, like an hour later, you try to remember the order in which you met the people, you’re probably going to get something wrong,” Graves said.

Graves said it’s sometimes as simple as the sequence of events in a crime. A police officer can write down that he saw it one way, but the body camera shows it actually happened another way, and then the case can’t go forward.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office helped craft legislation to change that policy, allowing officers to review video before filing a report. The ACLU opposes that, telling News4 in a statement that allowing officers to look at the footage would be “risking biased recounts of events and compromising the integrity of these crucial documents. The adverse effects of pre-report viewing — such as biasing an officer’s memory and overreliance on the footage — outweigh any benefits”.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me,” Graves said. “This seems like a very theoretical concern that’s getting in the way of practical problems, practical, real-world problems.”

In Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and Fairfax County, officers are permitted and do look at their body worn camera video before writing reports.

The mayor’s legislation, which includes other changes to the law, is before the D.C. Council.

Between Nov. 8 and Dec. 3, Elijah Porter of Northeast D.C. used Facebook Marketplace to arrange meetings to buy items from the victims, police said. When he met the victims in the area of Orren and Oates streets, Porter pulled a handgun and robbed them, taking money, laptops and iPads.

“The victim drives down there to make this exchange down on Orren Street, and of course, he’s then robbed by a suspect,” Metropolitan Police Department Cmdr. Sylvan Altieri said.

Detectives tracked down Porter, who lives close to where the robberies occurred.

“They subpoenaed, of course, Facebook Marketplace for the records of this account everything was coming out of,” Altieri said. “While we were waiting on that, we had a fourth robbery in December, same location again. That occurred on a Thursday. We were able to get the warrant signed, and that Monday morning we were able to serve the warrant down on Orren Street, arrest the suspect.”

Police say more people use social media sites to buy and sell items during the holidays, which makes it easy to become a victim.

“We do tend to get, around this time of year, a little bit of an increase in platform robberies,” Altieri said.

Police are urging residents to be cautious when using social media sites to buy and sell items and go somewhere safe like an MPD safe exchange location when it’s time to meet face to face. Safe exchange zones can be found at every district station and the Special Operations Division’s Harbor Patrol.

“You can go to any police district seven days a week,” Altieri said. “We don’t close; we’re like IHOP, 24/7, right? Open all the time. And you can agree to make these exchanges there. We really try to encourage people to do it.”

Police charged Porter with four counts of robbery and one count of threat to kidnap or injure a person.