Police say that a shooting in Trinidad last night left a suspect dead and two officers wounded.
As officers patrolled the area near the intersection of Holbrook and Morse Streets NE, shots were fired, according to Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. “We can’t distinguish who fired those shots at this point because we’re still in the preliminary stages,” Newsham told reporters at the scene last night, alongside Mayor Muriel Bowser.
As a result of the gun fire, two D.C. police officers suffered non-life threatening injuries and a suspect was pronounced dead at a local hospital, said Newsham, who Bowser nominated to become permanent police chief Thursday morning.
Police have identified the suspect as 47-year-old Timothy Williams.
The incident took place around 10:40 p.m., and part of it was recorded by a witness, Darren Watson, who tweeted his cell phone video last night. Watson told Fox 5 News that he watched as an officer approached the suspect who was quickly walking down the street. He said the man started running and ended up getting into a struggle with two officers, who told him to stop resisting. Watson said the suspect then shot the officers and that’s when he started recording. In the video, shots can be heard, an officer is seen falling to the crowd, and several other officers run toward the scene.
Newsham told reporters that other witnesses have come forth, and he is recommending that Mayor Bowser release the officers’ body-worn camera footage.
Shots were fired earlier in the day in Trinidad as well, Newsham said. On Thursday night, four people were shot in Southeast; within two hours of one another. The shootings took place a half-mile apart in Congress Heights.
Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie was also at the scene after the Trinidad shooting last night, according to The Washington Post. “These brave men and women are working hard, but we need to better support our officers in the community,” McDuffie said. “This gun violence is a scourge on our community. It is a scourge on the city. We need action.”
Newsham said that a weapon was recovered on the scene, which he believes belongs to the deceased suspect.
This post has been updated.
