Community members gathered at a vigil for the anniversary of D’Quan Young’s death on May 8, 2019.

/ Courtesy of Natacia Knapper/Stop Police Terror Project DC

Federal prosecutors say they won’t bring charges against an off-duty police officer who shot and killed a 24-year-old man in Northeast last year.

D’Quan Young was shot multiple times by a Metropolitan Police Department officer on May 8, 2018, near the Brentwood Recreation Center. His family has been publicly seeking answers ever since.

The investigation concluded that Young and the officer did not know each other before the shooting. The off-duty officer was on his way to a barbecue nearby and looking at a cellphone, when Young allegedly confronted him. 

After asking who he was calling, Young pointed a gun at the officer, who drew his own service weapon and told him to drop it, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Young fired and the officer fired back, hitting Young twice in the chest and three times in the legs, prosecutors said. 

Young then tried to run away, but fell to the ground as the officer continued to fire shots at him, according to investigators. He died at the scene.

Officials have declined to release the name of the officer.

“This decision is typical and to be expected,” said Young’s aunt, Michelle Young, in a statement on Friday.  “The U.S. Attorney’s Office never intended to be transparent. The family has a right to see the evidence. If the police officer didn’t do anything wrong, then why are they hiding the evidence?”

Family members and community leaders have long questioned the details around Young’s death, deploring what they say is a lack of transparency from the police department and city officials.

Catherine Young, D’Quan’s mother, recounted her struggle to get information on her son’s condition and whereabouts from police in the hours that followed the shooting in testimony before a D.C. Council committee in February. She told lawmakers that it took several hours for police to tell her which hospital to go to, and that she was questioned at length before being told that her son had died.

After Young’s death, the officer was placed on administrative leave. Police confirmed to DCist in May that the officer had been reinstated.

On Wednesday, ANC 7C04 Commissioner Lorenzo Green expressed his frustration on Twitter that the investigation was closed without the officer’s name being released to the public.

Local activist groups also condemned the timing of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s announcement, which was made on the evening before Fourth of July.

Previously:

D’Quan Young Was Shot By An Off Duty Police Officer. A Year Later, His Family Is Mourning And Seeking Answers

This story has been updated with comment from Michelle Young. 

Filed Under: d.c. police, D'Quan Young, fatal shooting, mpd, The Metropolitan Police Department,