A police officer with the Washington, D.C., Metro Police Department shot and killed a man earlier this month who was wielding what was later determined to be an air-powered rifle.
Officers were called to an apartment complex on August 31 to investigate a report of an individual holding a long gun on a balcony and pointing it towards the street. Footage released by the department shows the moments the man, identified as George D. Watson, emerges from his apartment and Sgt. Jonathan Nelson fires three shots, killing him.
“MPD recognizes the sanctity of human life, and that any loss of life is a tragic outcome for a family and community,” the department states in the commentary accompanying the video.
SEE ALSO: NYPD Confiscates Rapper’s Hummer-Mounted T-Shirt Air Gun
In the video, officers can be seen knocking on Watson’s door and attempting to communicate with him. One officer holds a riot shield while another holds an AR-pattern rifle. Several other officers stand on the stairway outside the door.
Nelson asks Watson if he needs help and if he can open the door, but Watson refuses.
“No, I cannot open the door,” he says. “I don’t want to talk to y’all. Get away from my door! Back up!”
Watson opens the door and appears to be asking the officers about someone else in the apartment complex. Much of what he says is redacted, but he repeats, “Where that bitch in the pink at?”
Nelson remains calm and tries to ask Watson what’s happening, but he refuses to explain.
“Go suck a dick,” he says as he slams the door.
“Definitely a mental health consumer,” Nelson says into the radio.
Moments later, Watson reopens the door holding an air-powered rifle designed to look like an AR-pattern firearm. Watson does not shoulder the rifle, and he appears to point it between the two officers standing on either side of the door. The department said initially that Watson had pointed the rifle at the officers.
SEE ALSO: Police Called to Home After Classmate Spots a Toy Gun on Zoom
Nelson draws his service weapon and fires three shots at Watson, and he falls to the ground. The officers administered first aid after securing the apartment, and Watson was brought to a local hospital but “all life-saving efforts failed,” according to the department.
The incident is pending review by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO). When the USAO completes their review, the case will be investigated by MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
Hahahaha, right? Truth bomb Trevor, nice comment.
That looks like a really nice apartment complex, how did that ebonics-speaking ghetto trash get an apartment there? Oh, sweet population control. God Bless you, Officers!
Why don’t people comply? It looked like a real rifle. What was the cop suppose to do? Wait to see if someone got shot and died? COMPLY. The life you save will be yours.
Great triple tap. Rifle vs. Rifle. I see no problem with the officer making a decision to shoot this moron. As a retired officer being in this situation. I would have done the same. This is what makes our Police Officers great. When you have the balls to pull the trigger in a split second!
Why did the officer in shorts go running down the stairs when shots were fired? Not good.
He is very articulate. Most likely starred in his high school play, Hamlet.
Never bring a pellet gun to a gunfight. I too, could not believe they allowed the goofball back into his apartment (1) after receiving the initial report (2) in conflict with general officer safety protocols (3) after he assed up the way he did and became so belligerent and antagonistic. Allowing him to retreat into his apartment was sure to result in a bad day for everyone. I’m sure the officers were hesitant/reluctant, fearful of being disciplined and sued, plus losing their jobs due to the whole BLM anti-law enforcement/anti-establishment movement and the spineless political hacks it has spawned that won’t back their police departments – even when officers are right.
Good shot.
They should give all the thugs and drug dealers in DC body cams– we could get this kind of entertainment every day and dozens on weekends.
V Skreet Norfwess! I’d probably commit suicide by cop if I lived in that s#ithole ghetto too.
Good shoot in my opinion. He was aggressive and came towards the Officers with what appeared to be a long gun. His behavior is a direct result of the emboldening they got from that idiot Obama. The world truly is a better place with sewage like this gone from the world.
👍👍👍
The kid in Cleveland who pulled a toy gun on cops a couple years ago will never do it again,either.
This idiot should have learned from THAT recent history.
The Suspect armed himself after causing police to be consuned he was unbalanced and a clear dangerous perp. The only choice left was too Fire a shot. Not Three Time’s. That was over kill!!!
Ever heard of the Mozambique Drill?
People in this line of work are trained to shoot three shots to the chest Plus it takes more rounds than one usually to stop a person Ask anyone that has been in war. It’s amazing how strong a human body is and how much it can take
The Suspect armed himself after causing police to be consuned he was unbalanced and a clear dangerous pero. The only choice left was too Fire a shot. Not Three Time’s. That was over kill!!!
Oh C’mon, Bob…You know wut they say – “3rd time’s a charm!”.. A “waste” is the whole clip, and that’s why we have ammo shortages!
I have an air rifle in 9mm I’ve hunted and killed hogs with.
By the way, cudos to the cops. one less asshat in DC.
I find myself largely in agreement with “Budd”, supra. As I watched this video, my mind kept flashing back to those classes decades ago on “schismogenetic theory”, with the police in the video allowing, indeed, by their deferential behavior, encouraging the emotionalism (and hence the situation) to escalate. The mere fact that someone in that apartment had been reported waving a gun and pointing it at people gave the police adequate “probable cause” to intervene decisively the moment the suspect became belligerent and uncooperative. Had they intervened decisively then, it would not have escalated into a (by that time, totally justified) shooting. Where I disagree with Budd is in his assignment of blame for this “poor team management”. The cops here were doing exactly what their civilian overseers demanded, namely bending over backwards to “play nice” in a situation where that was not only ineffective but actually counter-productive. This is the same kind of Pollyanna-ish thinking which has led these “defund the police” types to believe that a social worker would have a better chance to fix matters than a cop, which, in turn, obliges the cops to act like social workers instead of like cops. The time for social workers is AFTER the dangers have been neutralized, not while the subject has a gun. Yes, the situation was grossly mishandled, but it was not the cops’ fault. It was the fault of those who, with no practical experience, tell them what to do.
Agreed and well said. This is what Officers have been turned in to since that idiot Obama empowered criminals over the Police, and demonized them.
The following comment from oldedude was very well put and on point. Thank you and everyone should take note. A lot of common sense will go a long way.
Imagine if this interaction was between citizens on the street. Would they be charged for shooting a man for merely possessing a gun? He didn’t attempt to shoot anyone from what I saw. He didn’t theaten anyone. He was only upset.
Only a fool goes back inside and returns “armed” to confront cops. Doesn’t matter whether it was an air rifle or not or if he pointed it at someone. In this situation, the “victim” should have just stayed inside and let the cops bust down the door; but be sitting in a chair unarmed. This “negro” has the typical arrogant attitude displayed by most of that race, and would rather throw a fit than just remain calm. In this case, one individual is NOT going to win a confrontation against 4-5 cops, it’s better to take it to the courts.
So we’re they supposed to let him point the weapon at them and fire at them before they could fire? Your comment is ludicrous.
Reviewed. Justified (as it would have been for any citizens on the street after assailant’s verbal assault and BRANDISHING of a firearm).
What other result could anyone expect when you meet police with a weapon in your hand? Are they suppose to wait til he fires a shot to see if it’s an air gun?
Air Gun or Not when someone opens the door and racks a round, that is intent . . .
And besides, air guns nowadays will kill you just as fast as a powdered weapon, they now have from .177 pellets to 50 cal and everything in-between.
These sure ain’t your grandpas Daisy Red Rider BB guns . . .
Most people don’t know this but Merriwether Lewis and William Clark carried two large caliber air rifles on their excursion in 1804. They demonstrated them to the Indians by KILLING SEVERAL DEER with them.So, those air rifles were not toys. Although today’s air rifles are not as powerful as firearms are,even though some are .22 caliber, they are authentic looking.
Do not blame the police or the gun. Blame the brain dead moron who is aiming the gun at them.
As for the Lewis and Clark story, read “Undaunted Courage” by the late Stephen Ambrose. Or Google “air rifles” and read instead of believing everything the media puts out.
I really like these black guys who have no respect for police or anybody else, resist arrest, and curse out the cops. They’re good for one thing. Target practice.
The man air rifle looks like a AR firearm. A air rifle is not a toy, it can kill people and animals.
I’ve said this many times before, “Too many cooks, spoil the soup.” I’ve been there, and done this. When I worked the streets, we didn’t have “group mentality”, weapons hot problems. Most times my nearest back up was many miles away. If it was ONE, or a DOZEN, you handled it. The key to survival, for you and for those you were sent to investigate, was “LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.” I never engaged in “conversations that turned into arguments.” If I had business there, I acted quickly. Letting this guy keep opening and closing the door, acting in a argumentative manner, was creating a scenario for disaster. The officer in charge, should have seen this coming when he first refused to open the door. Once you make contact with this guy, you SUBDUE him, THEN sort out the problem, if any. (It could have been a call from someone who just didn’t like the guy.) I’ve taken weapons away from many men, (And Women. Don’t be fooled by pretty faces.) and that being a long gun, it would have been easy, once you are up close with the guy. IMO it should never have happened. Poor team management.
Hey Budd,
If you were a police officer you’d know the policemen’s hands were tied. He didn’t come outside his doorway. Without a warrant, the police cannot touch him unless he poses a threat. Thus your attempt to subdue him would land you in court as the defendant. The police did everything properly and attempted to deescalate the situation. Unfortunately they were not successful. The perp told the police officer not to do something stupid, then he slams the door and comes out with a weapon. How stupid is that? One less asshole in society. Good shoot!
Yep. There’s no law against being an asshole. Now there is one less to bother with.
You are talking about the way the world used to be, when people were sane.
You weren’t an Officer too long or were you a cop in a very small department and didn’t go to a Police academy? Every point you made is and was incorrect. If you were an Officer I bet it wasn’t for long.
Another one bites the dust! Hey Hey
What is there to investigate? A belligerent individual approaches the police with a weapon and gets shot. And it is all on video. These cops did what any reasonable person would have done. Dealing with law enforcement is simple, yes sir no sir and do not act like an A hole.
That’s what I saw. Pretty simple. What did that idiot expect would happen?
It really doesn’t matter that he was being a typical arrogant minority, it’s when he escalated it to coming back out with a “weapon” that sealed the deal. Just because a cop initiates a conversation with you doesn’t mean you have to be civil with them or even cooperative. The cops had NO proof that this guy did what was claimed, so he wants t be left alone then they should leave him alone and see if another call comes in. On the other hand, this guy was an absolute moron by coming back out “armed”, knowing there were several cops. Suicide by cop!
I wonder how much fentynal and meth they will find during autopsy. Another George Floyd? You can tell this man had mental problems and drugs can cause it.
Why can’t people comply? 🤔
Air rifles that shoot metal are not made with hi-viz “toy” indicators on the muzzle because they aren’t. They are potentially lethal weapons that must be treated with the same precautions as a firearm. If it weren’t for the fact the suspect was black and the officers were white, this incident would have already been ruled a suicide-by-cop and would not be under any review by federal authorities. The cops simply did what they had to do.
Why do theses People continually resist arrest and blame the Police for the Police protecting themselves …
Because they’re stupid. Next question
Feral animals act like feral animals!
Because this idiot like most of them was emboldened by that imbecile Obama and the stupidity was furthered when dementia Joe was put in office.
When you are in front of a Policemen, your life is 99.9% in danger. The highest priority belongs to the Police, their life, and safety. You are as GOOD as dead. No question about that.
“it shows on the video”
this guy obviously hated the police and his actions and retoric prove that. The cops were there to investigate a guy with a rifle pointing it at the street off a balcony. After confronting the cops in a series of ugly exchanges and then retreating back into his appartment he returned through the door carrying a rifle knowing that the cops were armed and prepared to defend themselves…they fired and he died. Too bad but it had nothing to do with improper actions on their part.
I agree that based on the information provided that the shooting will likely be noted as justified. But the officer in charge never stated why they were there and what the complaint was. Had he stated that (and it could have been redacted from the video), this outcome may have resulted differently in spite of the behavior of the respondent. Some may see this as more fuel for their fires.
Shows what dipstick? Some nut job that SHOULD never have been out of an institution, riled up by the race baiters and poverty pimps stands out on his balcony with a gun, then is uncooperative with police and then get’s himself shot by said police AFTER he retreats to his apartment grabs said gun and comes back out of apartment. WHO the fuck was indangered? Get a life!
-Endangered- This is a clear case of suicide by cop, anyone of any race who points something that resembles /or could be confused as a firearm at police officers should expect to be shot as well.
Let’s see. White cops, Black perp, air rifle, under review of the U.S. attorney general’s office. The good news is, Walmart’s hiring.
LOL… I like that. S.O.S., just a different day.
Clear-cut justified shooting- agitated man refuses to speak calmly with officers, retreats into his home and them emerges with rifle, at the ready. Glad that no officers were hurt during this incident.
You point a firearm towards the police, they must shoot you. They cannot take the chance that you won’t fire. Officer did what was necessary to stop the threat.
Investigation should not take long.
im sorry. toy gun or not. you should know not to come out the house or door with anything that even looks like a weapon. we saw it 1st hand. what these cops go through split second decision. i dont know about anyone else. its my life or yours i want to go home at the end of the day.
Hmmm….. it’s almost as if the trash took itself out…