Police were involved in the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man armed with a knife after chaos erupted on Washington, DC‘s streets on Tuesday night.
Carjacker dead in fatal shooting
The incident unfolded in Columbia Heights on the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue NW, close to another police involved shooting earlier in the day.
Video footage captured officers shouting at the suspect to get on the ground as he climbed into a police cruiser while holding a knife.
The man, later identified as Surafel Zerihun, had already slashed his knife at an officer moments earlier after reaching into a different cruiser.
Events escalated rapidly when Zerihun fled the scene and attempted to carjack another vehicle with a woman inside. That’s when officers fired their weapons, fatally striking him.
Pamela A. Smith, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department Chief, recounted the series of shocking events that led to the shooting.
She stated the chaos began around 6:10 p.m. when Zerihun drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic, colliding with a marked police cruiser.
Chief Smith explained that after the crash, he exited his vehicle and produced a knife.” She said Zerihun approached the officer inside the cruiser, reaching through an open window, demanding the officer’s weapon while slashing toward him with the blade.
The officer retreated to the passenger seat while yelling at the suspect to back off. But when Zerihun advanced, the officer opened fire from inside the cruiser, then exited his vehicle to check on Zerihun’s condition and called for backup.
Zerihun grabbed the knife and tried to attack the officer again. Instead of engaging further, the suspect turned his attention to a second police cruiser and managed to climb inside.
Officers pursued him, surrounded the vehicle, and repeatedly ordered him to get out.
Smith said that he eventually exited the cruiser while still armed with the knife. From there, he approached a car parked at a laundromat and opened the driver’s door.
A woman sat inside, unaware of what was unfolding, as Zerihun allegedly tried to carjack her vehicle.
Smith explained, “At this time, one of our officers discharged his service weapon at the suspect, striking him.” Emergency responders arrived, but Zerihun was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers involved in put on leave pending review
The woman in the car, along with all officers involved in the incident, escaped without injuries. The two officers who fired their guns are currently on administrative leave as per standard policy, pending an internal investigation.
“Agents from our Internal Affairs division are on the scene conducting the investigation, in conjunction with detectives with our investigative services bureau. The case will be independently reviewed, as they always are, by the US Attorney’s Office,” Smith confirmed.
Witnesses who were present during the dramatic sequence of events offered differing perspectives.
Nana Bawa was nearby when he heard sirens and shouting. He recorded parts of the standoff on his phone and expressed concerns about how police handled the situation.
“I know what he did wasn’t right, you know, but I felt like there was a better way it could have been solved than what I saw,” Bawa said.
Referring to the moment officers surrounded the cruiser, Bawa recalled, “And so he gets out, and I saw him kind of confused or whatever, and then all he did was run over there with his back facing them.”
On the other hand, Forest Hayward, who owns a shop across the street, believed the officers acted to protect public safety.
“In all honesty, I believe the officers were doing the best they could to protect the public,” he acknowledged.
“Because of the incident that took place, because he did hit a cop car, and then he was coming across the street, and as you see, there are a lot of people out here during the day.”
It is unclear whether Zerihun had any prior criminal record. This incident marks the second time on Tuesday that DC police officers used firearms along Georgia Avenue.
Fatal shooting was the second time police engaged in gunfire in the area on the same day
Earlier that day, around 3:30 p.m., officers had fired at two armed suspects during a traffic stop near Quebec Place.
A police spokesperson said the two suspects were seen firing weapons and fled the scene following the gunfire exchange.
No injuries were reported, and the suspects remain at large. They were last seen wearing dark clothing and ski masks and reportedly drove off in a Honda Civic.
Kyle Ramsey, an MPD spokesperson, confirmed that “Officers are OK, uninjured. Internal Affairs are investigating. There will also be an independent review by the US Attorney’s Office.”
