WASHINGTON — A U.S. Park Police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old accused of dragging and trapping officers with a stolen car attempting to flee the scene in Northeast D.C. Saturday morning, authorities said.
Metropolitan Police Department requested USPP assistance after receiving a call for a suspicious vehicle with a person sleeping inside in the area of 34th and Baker Street Northeast D.C. around 8:50 a.m., USPP said. Officers determined the vehicle was stolen.
A USPP sergeant and an officer responded to the area, and officers tried to detain the driver of the alleged stolen car, but Dalaneo Martin took off.
During the encounter, a USSP officer was "trapped in the vehicle and was unable to get out of the car," Sergeant Thomas Twiname, a spokesperson with the USPP, said. It is unclear why the officer was inside the vehicle. The second USPP sergeant was "dragged by the vehicle as it fled the scene."
The officer inside the car fired their weapon after USPP said an "incident" occurred inside. The car crashed into a house in the 300 block of 36th Street Northeast D.C.
Twiname said the officers "immediately" rendered aid to Marin, but he died at the scene. The officers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A firearm was recovered inside the vehicle.
Southbound DC-295 was temporarily shut down from Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue to East Capitol as a result of the police investigation but has since been reopened, DC Police Traffic said in a tweet.
Kenneth Spencer, the Chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police, issued the following statement in response.
“Regarding the shooting incident involving U. S. Park Police Officers on Saturday, March 18, 2023, please consider that a gun was recovered from the vehicle, the vehicle was stolen, the Officer had a lawful reason to enter the vehicle, and both officers involved took appropriate actions for lawful reasons," said Spencer.
Adding, "Our union fought for many years to get Body Worn Cameras for USPP Officers. The USPPFOP agrees the Body Worn Camera footage should be released as quickly as possible in accordance with NPS and DC Metropolitan Police's Standards and Practices. The incident is under investigation by the DC Metropolitan Police Department.”
The MPD Division will handle the investigation of the shooting per U.S. Park Police policy.
This is a developing story. We are working to gather additional details. Stay with WUSA9 for the latest updates as they come in to our newsroom.