DC Police Release Bodycam Video of Officer Shooting of Violent Interrupter

DC Police Release Bodycam Video of Officer Shooting of Violent Interrupter

***Disclaimer: This story contains content that some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.***

WASHINGTON (7News) – DC police have released bodycam footage of an officer-involved shooting that left one gunman dead on Sunday, September 1.

MPD Chief Pamela Smith shared an update.See below:

The shooting occurred after police were called to a McDonald’s in the 2500 block of Marion Barry Avenue, Southeast, around 5:30 a.m. for a report of an accident.

When they arrived, officers found a vehicle had crashed into the McDonald’s. The driver of the vehicle, Justin Robinson, 26, was unresponsive in the car, police said. He reportedly had a gun in his lap.

According to the MPD, Robinson was unresponsive for 10 minutes.

7News On Your Side asked Chief Smith what the officers did during those 10 minutes. Whether they tried to talk to Robinson, or they tried to open the door to grab the gun from his lap.

“In these types of cases, particularly in this case, the officers were clearing the area of ​​any individuals, single persons, bystanders that may have been in the area. They were also using their patrol car to try to close in on the individual’s vehicle, and they were also trying to make a plan of how they were going to respond or intervene,” Smith said.

Robinson began to wake up shortly after officers called for backup. Officers then drew their weapons and ordered Robinson to drop his weapon, officials said.

READ MORE | OAG: Some DC residents living in ‘dangerous’ conditions while property owners deny code violations

Officials said Robinson grabbed the officer’s service weapon through the driver’s side window, and that’s when two officers fired their weapons a total of 11 times, striking Robinson. First responders administered aid, but he was pronounced dead at the scene and a weapon was recovered.

In bodycam footage showing an officer in the passenger side, MPD officials in the community briefing video showed Robinson holding his own gun with his left hand while grabbing the officer’s gun with his right hand.

7News On Your Side asked Smith if MPD is considering changing its protocols, as the officers on the passenger side appeared to be in the line of fire from the officers on the other side of the car.

“There will be a recommendation made to us by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and/or by our Internal Affairs Office. We will also have our Use of Force Review Board to review the results of the investigations, and then we will consider any recommendations that are made to us, as to any policy or training that we may need to do with our agency,” Smith said.

Robinson was later identified as a violent disruptor by the Washington DC Attorney General’s office and the Cure The Street program.

“The city has been very instrumental in working with our violence interrupters,” Chief Smith said. “I think the programs have certainly been instrumental in helping to mediate issues and… conflicts that arise within our district. Violence interrupters have been very instrumental in supporting us, I believe, with the crime reduction that you’ve seen in the District of Columbia.”

The following evening, Robinson’s family and friends gathered for a protest, demanding that body camera footage of the incident be made public.

RELATED | Protesters demand bodycam video after gun violence mediator shot dead by DC police

According to Chief Smith, the family was given the opportunity to view the footage.

On Wednesday, September 4, a letter from the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice revealed that Robinson’s family had requested that the bodycam footage not be made public.

Chief Smith said the family’s attorney informed the department on Saturday, Sept. 7, that they would like the video released.

7News On Your Side asked if she knew why the family had changed their minds.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that the family was given the opportunity – the next of kin, according to the law – to view the body camera footage on Monday of last week,” Smith said.

“We were told the video was going to be redacted,” a family friend said at a vigil on Friday, Sept. 6. “We didn’t want the community to see a redacted video because they didn’t give us the redacted video.”

In accordance with department policy, the officers involved have been suspended and the incident will be independently investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

7News reviews the bodycam footage.