Authorities say a police officer in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, fatally shot a man who had pointed guns at him, each of whom turned out to be a “realistic replica,” authorities said.
OXON HILL, Md. – A police officer in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, fatally shot a man who had pointed guns at him that each turned out to be a “realistic replica,” authorities said Saturday.
The shooting death of Cedric Williams, 29, occurred Friday afternoon at an apartment complex in Oxon Hill where the officer lived, according to a statement from the Prince George’s County Police Department.
An employee of the complex told the agent that there was a man banned from the property, after which the uniformed agent tried to get Williams to leave unsuccessfully, according to a preliminary investigation by the department.
A verbal confrontation sparked a physical fight and the suspect pulled a gun out of his book bag and showed up to try to shoot her, police said. According to investigators, the gun did not fire and Williams threw it into a wooded area.
The veteran officer deployed a Taser twice to Williams, but it was not effective. Williams recovered what appeared to be an “AR-15-style rifle” and pointed it at the officer, who then unloaded the police weapon several times and killed Williams, according to the statement. Like the handgun, the rifle was also later determined to be a “realistic replica,” the department said.
A department spokesman did not immediately respond Saturday night to a question seeking more information about the aftershocks.
The agent, who joined the department in 2009 but was not identified by name, is now on administrative leave pending an investigation led by the department’s internal affairs division. The Prince George’s County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing all officer-related charges, according to the press release. Williams had no fixed address. Authorities did not release information about the races of those involved.