DC Police Fatally Shoot Man Found Asleep In Car At Traffic Light

WASHINGTON, DC — A Metropolitan Police Department officer shot and killed a man who was found asleep in a car with a gun at a traffic light on New York Avenue NE early Wednesday, according to D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee.

The person who called 911 said the man looked to be unconscious behind the wheel of a black BMW in a right lane of New York Avenue NE, near Florida Avenue NE, Contee said at a news briefing Wednesday morning.

Officers responded to the scene around 3 a.m. and saw the man had a gun in his waistband, Contee said. The chief said he does not know if the man ever held the gun.

Officers called for backup, grabbed ballistic shields, then tried to wake up the man about 20 minutes later, Contee said. The man awoke at some point and then an officer opened fire and killed the man, he said.

Footage from the bodycam worn by the police officer who fatally shot the man is blocked by the shield, so it is hard to see if the man pulled his gun on the police officers.

The man was taken to a hospital where he died.

Contee attributed the man’s death to him having an illegal gun in his possession. The man's death comes almost a week after a North Carolina man inside his pickup truck who was illegally threatening to blow up two blocks of the Capitol Hill area was successfully taken into custody by U.S. Capitol Police without any shots fired by police or injuries to the suspect.

Traffic was closed on New York Avenue NE both eastbound and westbound between 4th Street NE and North Capitol Streets NE during a police investigation. New York Avenue reopened in both directions soon after 8 a.m. Wednesday.