D.C. police released body camera footage that detailed the Wednesday shooting of Deon Kay, an 18-year-old black man.
The video, released on Thursday, shows an officer running toward Kay with his weapon drawn and shouting “don’t move” repeatedly. When the officer got close, Kay appeared to fling a gun down a hill. Just as Kay tossed the weapon, the officer fired one shot that appeared to hit Kay’s chest.
The department released more than 10 minutes of body camera footage, but the moment the officer left his vehicle until the moment Kay was shot lasted just 10 seconds, offering few details from the incident.
Officers were called to the area to “investigate a man with a gun” on Wednesday afternoon. Kay was taken to the hospital after the shooting, where he was pronounced dead. Officers spent several minutes searching for Kay’s gun, which was eventually recovered from the scene.
The shooting of Kay sparked protests throughout Washington, including demonstrations outside of a police precinct and at the home of Mayor Muriel Bowser. Some of the protesters demanded that Police Chief Peter Newsham resign or be fired by Bowser.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Use of Force Review Board will both be investigating the shooting. Washington has a policy mandating that body camera footage be released within five days of an officer-involved deadly or serious use of force, although the family of the victim has the option to block its disclosure to the public.
The officers involved in the incident have all been placed on administrative leave. The department is required to release the names of those officers.
The protests that followed the Kay shooting are reminiscent of demonstrations this summer that have taken place around the country and the world in response to police incidents involving other black people, including George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
