No Federal Charges in DeOnté Rawlings Shooting Case

According to federal investigators, the trouble began about 7:30 p.m. when Haskel and Clay, off duty and out of uniform, went out to find a minibike that Haskel said was stolen from his house. Riding in Haskel's sport-utility vehicle, they saw DeOnté astride it in the 600 block of Atlantic Street SE.

Police said the officers called out to DeOnté, and the youth allegedly opened fire before the officers had a chance to identify themselves. Prosecutors said evidence indicates that the youth fired two shots before Haskel fired back, using his 9mm police-issued weapon.

Haskel chased DeOnté on foot, and the shooting continued. At one point, Haskel was about 90 feet away from the youth, who was fleeing, prosecutors said. DeOnté turned around and fired again at Haskel, they said. Haskel fired back, hitting DeOnté in the back of the head. An autopsy found bruises on the youth's face, shoulder and back, which authorities attributed to his falling after he was shot.

Haskel was the only officer to fire; eight shell casings from his pistol were found at the scene.

"It was tragically bad luck that the officer was able to hit him from that distance," Taylor said.

Authorities said they do not know what happened to the gun that the youth allegedly had. The minibike turned up days later in Upper Marlboro.

Prosecutors said they relied heavily on data from gunshot sensors. The technology -- known as the ShotSpotter -- can distinguish the sounds made by different weapons and calculate approximate locations of where shots were fired. Authorities also found a bullet at the scene that had paint from Haskel's SUV, they said.

Taylor said witnesses told authorities that DeOnté had a gun, but he declined to say if these were the officers or others on the street.

He also disputed earlier accounts that the officers left the scene for a short while. He said the officer who fired the shots (Haskel) ran to an alley across from where the shooting took place in fear of his life as an angry crowd gathered, and the other officer (Clay) drove the SUV to the other side of the block.

Before announcing the decision, Taylor and FBI officials met with the Rawlings family. Prosecutors had previously urged the family to bring any evidence it uncovered to their attention. The meeting did little to appease the family or its lawyer, Gregory L. Lattimer.

"This is not surprising," Lattimer said. "The U.S. attorney's office doesn't prosecute police officers who shoot someone."

The most recent prosecutions against D.C. police officers in shooting cases were in 1992, with charges against two officers involved in domestic disputes, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the "vast majority" of police shootings do not end in prosecutions. "They have broad leeway and extensive legal protection," he said.

DeOnté had just begun his freshman year at Ballou Senior High School. While juvenile records are sealed, police officials had said they never considered him a suspect in any major crimes. However, Charles Rawlings said his son had developed a tense relationship with local officers in the months before his death because he refused to help them with investigations, had been out after curfew and had begun skipping school.

Staff writer David Nakamura and researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.