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| Police vehicles on a closed Mt Pleasant Street NW |
Most of yesterday afternoon saw dozens of MPD and special police force officers in Mount Pleasant in what has been described as a barricade situation. Details are surprisingly elusive, even in the Post and Times stories about the incident. But, both articles indicate that a man with mental health issues was involved in one or more altercations with police officers during an hours-long attempt to either coax him out of or forcibly remove him from an apartment on Irving Street NW. Again, all the details of the last altercation aren't crystal clear, but the man apparently fought with and was shot by police, transported to the hospital and was later pronounced dead. He was 55.
All of this happened at a very busy corner in the neighborhood and residents and business owners were posting photos and tweeting updates of what they were seeing in real time. Nearby businesses were closed (to foot traffic) briefly and people were kept off of the streets around the intersection of Mount P and Irving NW for hours, into the evening. The police response was massive. I definitely have questions about the nature of police response for one man who may have been in his own apartment, alone. And several accounts of sharp shooters and the presence of a SWAT team give me major pause as well. Looking forward to the official report when it is released and other accounts, if there are any. Very sad that at the end of the day a man was killed who shouldn't have been in this scenario.
