WASHINGTON — A man suspected of carrying out an armed robbery in D.C. earlier this month was shot Monday morning by a Prince George’s County police officer as authorities attempted to arrest him inside an apartment in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Corey Markell Janifer, 26, was shot once in the abdomen and is in critical condition in the hospital, Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski told reporters at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The officer who fired his weapon is a 19-year veteran who has worked in the department’s fugitive task force for the past two years, Stawinski said.
Stawinski said police did not find a weapon at the scene.
Members of the task force went to the apartment complex on Cherry Wood Lane in Greenbelt late Monday morning to assist D.C. police officers, who were attempting to serve Janifer with an arrest warrant in connection with an armed robbery and shooting.
Stawinski said officers were invited into the home by family members and called to Janifer by name several times. Stawinski said Janifer was in a bedroom with the door closed and police were attempting to force the door open when Janifer was shot about 11:45 a.m.
The officer who discharged his weapon “perceived a threat” and fired a single shot, which hit Janifer in the abdomen, Stawinski said.
The chief did not elaborate on the potential threat but said “it appears that the interaction between our officers and this individuals behind a closed door was certainly part of what played into this confrontation.”
The officer’s name has not been released. However, he has been placed on administrative duty while the department investigates the circumstances of the shooting, which is standard practice.
Stawinski said there were several members of the fugitive task force inside the apartment at the time of the shooting as well as three other people. None of the officers were wearing body cameras, he said.
“I am not pleased when we have to use force in the course of our duties, but this is a dangerous individual and working together our officers … were in the process of trying to take that individual out of our community,” Stawinski said.
Janifer was wanted in D.C. in connection with a robbery at a Northwest D.C. apartment in which two men were threatened with a long gun and one man was shot in the leg.
The chief said police tried last week to apprehend Janifer but he eluded authorities.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report from Greenbelt, Maryland.
