Patrick Casey

On Thursday, we reported that a George Washington University graduate student died after hitting his head on a sidewalk when he tried to break up a fight at the McDonald’s at 1916 M Street NW. On Friday, a top official of the D.C. police homicide unit contradicted that account, and said 33-year old Army veteran Patrick Casey may have been the aggressor.

Homicide Watch reports that Casey’s death is being ruled a homicide, but it’s unclear yet if it will be prosecuted as a murder.

Reports surfaced Thursday that Casey had been trying to defuse a dispute — Casey’s parents said a witness told them their son had been punched while trying to break up a fight after a female friend had been pushed — but now it appears that Casey had been drinking and may have actually instigated the fight. From the Washington Post:

“From what we’ve been able to establish at this point, Mr. Casey was not just sitting, minding his own business,” Capt. Michael Farish said at a news conference. “He was not just an inactive bystander who decided . . . to come to someone else’s aid. That’s not what our investigation is indicating.”

Farish said detectives have interviewed about a half-dozen people who were involved on both sides of the confrontation as well as other witnesses who were in the restaurant when the altercation occurred, shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sept. 23. He said authorities are not sure whether anyone will be charged in the incident.

“Bits and pieces” of the incident also were recorded by the restaurant’s security video system, Farish said.

“The interviews we’ve conducted thus far with people who were with Mr. Casey [show] he had been drinking that night,” Farish said. He said the D.C. medical examiner’s office, which conducted an autopsy on Casey’s body, has not completed toxicology tests to determine the level of alcohol in his blood.

Farish said police will continue reviewing the case and will consult with the U.S. attorney’s office before deciding whether a serious crime was committed.