WASHINGTON – Recently made public body-worn camera footage depicts an officer shooting a man who had been stabbed while performing a welfare check in the District.
It was May 18, in the Columbia Plaza Apartments, not far from the site of some George Washington University commencement exercises.
According to Maureen Umeh of FOX 5, at the time, some folks informed us they had heard three gunshots. Johnathan Jefferson, 28, is the target of up to nine gunfire heard in the just made public footage.
After reportedly stabbing an officer with a knife, investigators claim Jefferson attempted to flee.
As per Umeh, it all started with a welfare check. According to her, the Community Response Team from the Department of Behavioral Health was present when D.C. police officers arrived at the apartments.
They claim to have concluded that Jefferson posed an urgent risk to others as well as to themselves and that he had to be sent for an emergency assessment.
Jefferson allegedly took a knife and stabbed an officer when the officers attempted to handcuff him.
Jefferson was not successfully tased, according to the police. They claim that’s when a different police pulled a gun.
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A bullet missed Jefferson’s thigh and hit him in the hand. His injuries were not life-threatening when he was sent to a nearby hospital.
Non-life-threatening wounds were also attended to by the cop who was cut by Jefferson’s knife. At the scene, Jefferson’s knife was found.
There are four charges against Jefferson for assaulting a police officer. The investigating authorities have put the concerned cops on administrative leave in the wake of the shooting.
