By James Hohmann and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 26, 2008
An off-duty Prince George's County police corporal shot and killed a man who he said tried to rob him at gunpoint early yesterday morning. Police cordoned off an apartment complex in Forestville to search for a second man apparently involved in the robbery attempt, but authorities said last night they had not tracked him down.
The corporal, a 22-year veteran of the force, is a driver on the security detail of County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), said Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, a police spokesman.
Sources familiar with the investigation identified the officer as Cpl. William M. Peaco of Upper Marlboro, who was also involved in on-duty shooting incidents in 1989 and 2001. Peaco did not return calls seeking comment.
The incident marks the second time that an officer who had served on Johnson's security detail was involved in a shooting. Keith A. Washington, a former driver for the county executive, was sentenced this spring to 45 years in prison for fatally shooting one unarmed furniture deliveryman and wounding another at his Accokeek home last year.
Police said yesterday that the officer, whom they did not name, called in at 3:42 a.m. to say he had shot a person who was trying to rob him in the 4400 block of Rena Road. The officer said he was approached by two armed men in the complex's parking lot.
The officer fired his department-issued 9mm Beretta several times, according to Officer Henry Tippett, a police spokesman, striking one of the suspects in the upper body. That man -- identified as 18-year-old John C. Watts of the 3200 block of 23rd Street SE in the District -- was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.
Efforts to locate Watts's relatives yesterday evening were unsuccessful. People living near the 23rd Street SE address described Watts as a soft-spoken young man who kept to himself, but had played Pee Wee football while growing up.
The second person in the confrontation was believed to have fled in a dark-colored vehicle; it was not clear whether he was wounded. The officer was not injured.
In 1989, Peaco was one of three officers who fatally shot a suspected drug dealer, who reportedly pointed a gun at them in Oxon Hill. A grand jury later cleared him of wrongdoing.
In May 2001, Peaco was part of a SWAT unit that entered a Fort Washington home where a mother reported that her mentally ill son was acting bizarrely. When officers entered the home, police said at the time, the 37-year-old man walked toward officers with a 13-inch kitchen knife.
Peaco shot the man five times in two seconds with a 9mm submachine gun, according to court records. The man sued Peaco and the county for $15 million in damages, but a judge ruled that Peaco acted reasonably.
Workers' compensation records show that Peaco requested and received medical treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident.
Johnson's spokesman, James P. Keary, declined to comment, referring all questions to police.
For five hours after the shooting, a police helicopter, canine teams and foot patrols searched the Forest Village apartments and the wooded areas around the complex that lead to the Suitland Parkway near Andrews Air Force Base.
Department policy requires Prince George's police officers to carry their service weapons whenever they are in the county, whether or not they are on duty. Police recovered a shotgun from the parking lot and believe it belonged to one of the suspected robbers, Tippett said.
At the intersection of Forestville and Rena roads, across the street from a Sunoco gas station, investigators spray-painted yellow spots where spent ammunition was found. Paint also traced a trail of dried blood leading from near where the off-duty officer's car had been parked to the intersection.
Monica Kiah, 36, said the officer's Chevy was parked in the first space to the left of the complex's entrance, near a stop sign. When gunshots woke her up, she peeked through the window.
"What was he doing at 4 a.m.?" she asked. "He was parked perfectly. I thought it was kind of odd."
Neighbors said there have been a few car break-ins recently at the apartment complex.
Mark Johnson, 36, said he heard about 12 shots in rapid succession while he was getting ready for his job as a roofer. He ran to a window looking out over the crime scene and said he saw a car speed away toward Suitland Parkway. Later, he said, he saw the officer's car being towed away.
Police did not have enough details to offer a full description of the second man for whom they are searching. Pacheco said he did not know whether the off-duty officer lived in the apartment complex, across the Capital Beltway from the military base, or what he was doing in the parking lot in the pre-dawn hours.
Property records show Peaco, 46, has lived eight miles away in Upper Marlboro for almost 14 years.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation, which is standard policy in police-involved shootings.
The incident and police response reminded one neighbor of the 1997 fatal shooting of off-duty District police officer Oliver Wendell Smith Jr., 27, who died at Forest Village about 2:40 a.m. Three robbers fled with his gun, wallet and badge.
Staff writers Derek Kravitz, Avis Thomas-Lester, Rosalind S. Helderman, Aaron Davis, David S. Fallis and Ruben Castaneda and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
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