The Washington D. C. Metropolitan Police Department released body cam footage of a Christmas Day police shooting in the city’s Northeast quadrant Wednesday.
WATCH (Warning: Graphic):
Gerald Javon Hall, 29, of Northeast D. C., died Christmas Day after succumbing to his wounds. The incident occurred on the 3200 block of Walnut Street NE.
Hall had lit a gas stove and was lighting paper towels on fire before the confrontation, according to the police report. In the video, two police officers are heard shouting at Hall to drop a knife, before firing four shots when he apparently failed to comply.
Police also said that Hall had stabbed a woman before being shot by police, according to NBC Washington .
There were 135 homicides (105 shooting deaths) in the District of Columbia in 2016 — a 16.7 percent decrease from 2015, according to the Washington Post.
Police released the video in an effort to increase transparency with the community.
Law enforcement agencies are equipping officers with body cameras, as part of $75 million from the Obama administration to purchase 50,000 body cameras for state and local law enforcement agencies. (RELATED: Boston Police Union Pushes Back Against Body Cameras)
In the fall of 2014, President Barack Obama instructed his staff to construct an executive order that would direct “relevant agencies to work together and with law enforcement and civil rights and civil liberties organizations to develop specific recommendations.” One such program was titled the “Community Policing Initiative,” designed to “build and sustain trust between communities and those who serve and protect these communities.”
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