A Metropolitan Police Department officer shot an individual Saturday afternoon at the Columbia Plaza Apartments, less than a block away from campus.
MPD Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy said at a press conference at about 5:30 p.m. that a person stabbed an MPD officer in the neck with a knife at the intersection of 24th Street and Virginia Avenue while officers attempted to take them into custody for an evaluation. Savoy said officers attempted to tase and then fired a gun at the individual.
Savoy said the subject received medical service on scene and was transported to a nearby hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. She said the subject was charged with assault on an officer and the officer who was stabbed received medical treatment on the scene.
Savoy said it is unclear where the officer shot the individual, adding that an investigation into the incident is still ongoing. She said MPD placed four officers involved in the incident on administrative leave but did not provide a reason.
“At this time, we have four metropolitan police officers that are currently on administrative leave pending an investigation and the individual has been charged with assault on a police officer,” Savoy said.
Savoy said MPD officers arrived on scene at 10:40 a.m. to respond to perform a welfare check after a friend called the department on a person who was in apparent mental distress. She said MPD dispatched the Department of Behavioral Health, who said upon arrival that the individual should be taken into custody for an evaluation.
Officials issued a GW Alert at about 2:30 p.m. asking community members to avoid the area due to “urgent police activity.” A subsequent GW Alert at 3:20 p.m. said MPD had taken a suspect into custody and said there is no active threat to campus.
In the District, if a person is deemed mentally ill and “likely” to harm themselves or others, they may be taken into custody and brought to a mental health facility for assessment, according to DBH policy.
The policy states that a law enforcement officer, a qualified physician or a DBH agent must make the decision to take a person into custody, who then must complete an application for emergency admission that states the circumstances in which the individual was taken into custody.
Hannah Marr contributed reporting.
