Man Killed In Shooting Identified By Police

Family Recalls Dreams, Then Tragedy

As a child, Mark Antonio Washington dreamed of playing professional basketball, a goal his siblings say might once have been within reach. But his life's course turned suddenly, they said, when he witnessed the murder of his mother.

What followed, they said, was more than two decades of drug addiction -- heroin and cocaine -- and a tendency, court records attest, toward the petty thievery that often supports such habits.

Yesterday, Prince George's County police identified Washington as the 43-year-old man who was shot and killed Wednesday by two officers. Police said the officers fired after a brief pursuit that ended with Washington ramming two police cruisers, injuring an officer.

Speaking outside the house on Ord Street in the District where Washington had lived with his sister and her three children, the family said Washington was not by nature violent. He was so sensitive, they said, that he cried several days ago after learning that a niece's bicycle had been stolen.

Family members said Washington owned a van, and that on Wednesday evening he gave an acquaintance a ride to a pawn shop on Riverdale Road in Prince George's County.

In a news release, police said officers spotted a vehicle with stolen tags in a parking lot on the 6600 block of that road. As they approached on foot, they said, the vehicle drove over a curb and then nearly struck an officer.

The vehicle sped away, and the officers followed. The pursuit ended at the southbound ramp of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at Route 450, where Washington lost control. The officers left their cruisers, and Washington "started to ram the police cars that were in the front and back" of his vehicle, police said.

Two of the officers fired, striking both Washington and a passenger, another 43-year-old male. Police said the passenger was struck in the arm. Washington was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police declined to identify the officers or the passenger. The officers have been placed on routine administrative leave.

County police shot and killed five civilians last year, according to a compilation of media accounts and a police news release.

In 1980, the family said, Washington's mother was shot to death by an adult neighbor in a dispute that grew out of a conflict among children from the two families. She was killed in a courtyard as Washington, then 16 or 17, looked on, they said.

According to his siblings, Washington clung to the dream of playing professional basketball even after his mother's death and the beginnings of his addiction. In 1988, when the Charlotte Hornets were formed, Washington went to tryouts but, lacking confidence, left without taking to the court.

"I think his heart was heavy," said his oldest brother, Craig A. Washington. "We weren't there. His mother was gone. He just couldn't do it."

Washington's family members said they hope he will be remembered for more than his flaws.

"He was a person who had a substance abuse problem, but prior to his having a very unfortunate situation in his life, he didn't use drugs," said his uncle Gerold Washington. "He played high school basketball."

Staff researcher Karl Evanzz contributed to this report.