Photo by Michael Visser.

Police snipers. SWAT teams. Armored cars. Lockdowns at cafes. A man with filed-down screwdrivers. What exactly happened in Mount Pleasant yesterday?

Here’s what we know so far: a man, believed to be around 55 years old and reportedly with a history of mental health issues, was shot and killed by police yesterday around 5:30 p.m. inside a residence on the 1600 block of Irving Street NW. What began as a call for police to assist in the commitment of the man ended in a five-hour operation, as the man barricaded himself inside his apartment. As police approached the man’s residence, he stabbed one officer in the arm with what police are describing as a filed-down screwdriver — at that point, the emergency teams were called in, and the neighborhood basically went on lockdown.

After nearly two hours of negotiation, the police went into the man’s home to detain him, believing that he had passed out; the man proceeded to lunge at officers with a screwdriver again, at which point he was shot in the chest. He later died at Howard University hospital. The officer who was stabbed earlier was treated and released.

It’s the fourth fatal shooting which involved D.C. police this year. Police aren’t saying whether bringing out snipers, SWAT and scopes for an incident involving an (admittedly dangerous) man and a few sharp objects is an appropriately measured response — but that’s likely a question Chief Cathy Lanier will likely have to answer at some point in the near future.