A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective was questioned about his handling of a crowd scene in the wake of a shooting in a trial before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson on July 9.
Demann Shelton, 32, is charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, seven counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction. The charges stem from an incident in which the suspect allegedly aimed a gun at a group of five people, then opened fire, injuring one victim on Nov. 9, 2020, on the 3000 block of 14th Street, NW.
Both prosecuting and defense attorneys used the MPD detective’s body-worn camera footage from the day of the shooting as evidence and in their line of questioning.
Shelton’s attorney, Emma Mlyniec, questioned the detective about potential witnesses he encountered in a nearby alley who he said seemed “nervous and afraid” moments after the shooting. Body-worn camera footage showed some were lying down on the ground, some sliding underneath a fence, and some with their hands in the air.
The detective asked an individual on the ground if he had been shot or saw the shooter before letting him go, saying he didn’t match the suspect’s description and had no indication the person was involved.
Mlyniec argued that given these people were on the scene of the shooting, the detective failed to ask them appropriate questions, pat them down, or run a background check. She also noted that the detective testified the bystanders didn’t match the suspect’s description, but he didn’t have a description of the shooter at the time, which the detective admitted.
“You know how important it is to run people’s names right?” said Mlyniec before referencing a prior disciplinary report against the detective for apparently failing to run a witness with an active warrant’s name through the police database. The detective was also cited for improperly characterizing a witness’ statement, according to Mlyniec.
The defense played body-worn camera footage from another detective on the scene to show the testifying detective indicating to other officers he thought the group might’ve been involved and were visibly shaking when he approached them–yet still failed to interview them.
The prosecution rebutted that many people on the scene ran, and officers need a reason to stop and search people. The detective testified he had no basis to stop these people, saying that they “appeared to be concerned about where the shooter was.” The defense objected, citing speculation on the officer’s part, and Judge Dayson struck his comment from the record.
After leaving the alleyway to continue searching for the shooter, footage presented by the prosecution showed the detective was approached by people on the street suggesting that the shooter ran past and tossed something in a sewer drain.
The detective found a “black article of clothing,” later deemed a mask, by the drain, and said he stayed nearby to preserve the evidence. He testified that it was common for shooters to attempt to discard firearm evidence, and MPD often uses a magnet-type tool to recover them from sewage drains. However in this case, they did not recover a gun from the drain and no evidence was recovered besides the black mask.
Two other witnesses testified about a victim in the incident, a 64-year-old bystander who was shot in the arm and fled to his apartment building nearby where front-desk employees called 911. The victim was treated by officers until paramedics arrived on scene and transported him to Washington Hospital Center.
The trial is scheduled to resume on July 10.
