Four D.C. officers responding to a report of a person with a gun in Southeast D.C. ended up in the hospital along with the driver of a vehicle after a crash Thursday night.
The police cruiser with four officers crashed into a car near Alabama Avenue and Hartford Street Southeast. The officers and the driver have injuries that are not life-threatening, D.C. police Assistant Chief Wilfredo Manlapaz said in a news briefing.
The officers were on their way to the 3600 block Sixth Street Southeast, where around 8:30 p.m., police received several calls about a man with a gun.
Manlapaz said the man approached a car occupied by several people. The vehicle’s occupants were able to get out.
Around the same time, an officer arrived on the scene and saw the man with a gun. The officer told the man to drop his gun several times, but he did not comply.
The officer discharged his firearm “numerous times at the suspect,” Manlapaz said.
The man got in the car and Manlapaz said the man fired his weapon. No one was injured in the exchange. Officers were able to “get on the scene, secure him directly without further incident,” and the man was taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation, Manlapaz said.
Police found a semi-automatic weapon, and they are not yet sure whether what happened was a carjacking situation.
Manlapaz said they are still evaluating the evidence.
The officer who discharged a weapon is in administrative leave per procedure.
Below is the area where it happened.
