Man killed in police shootout was on probation

WASHINGTON - The man who was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police Wednesday was on probation for another altercation with police involving guns, WTOP has learned.

The prior run-in may help explain why 27-year-old Kellen Anthony White fled from a traffic stop Wednesday near the Capitol.

Maryland court records show White of Brandywine was on supervised probation for gun charges, assault upon a police officer, and drug charge convictions last year in Prince George's County.

Mark Vernarelli, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, confirms to WTOP that White's probation was scheduled to end in March 2012. Vernarelli said he did not immediately have information on whether White had been compliant with his probation.

On Wednesday, U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson Sgt. Kim Schneider said White refused to stop at a checkpoint about two blocks north of the Capitol complex.

White drove the wrong way down a street and struck two officers with his car - one on foot and the other on a motorcycle, Schneider said. The two officers received minor injuries.

Police say White crashed his white Mercedes and refused to put down his gun at New Jersey Avenue and C Street in Northwest.

Police say it's not clear how many shots White fired before at least two officers returned fire, killing him.

Schneider described the melee as "very fast moving, very fluid."

"The officers felt they were being threatened - they were in fear for their lives," Schneider said.

Police say they originally tried to stop White for altered tags.

The late afternoon shooting happened a few blocks from where the third day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was wrapping up. Police briefly sealed off part of the Capitol as a precaution, but the complex was reopened shortly afterward.

Authorities said the incident was unrelated to the Capitol complex.

Robert Drumm, a tourist from Oklahoma visiting the nation's capital with his family, said in an interview, "There were so many gunshots being fired, my family got down."

Drumm said he saw one victim, not wearing a police uniform, taken away in an ambulance. Drumm said he first noticed trouble when he saw one car speeding and being chased by a police vehicle.

Another witness, Dale Lanigan of Toledo, Ohio, described a similar scene, although he said two police cars gave chase.

As the car went past him, Lanigan said, "The driver had one hand on the wheel and it looked like he was reaching for something."

Lanigan said he then heard shots and police ordered him to get away.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)