Man Wounded in Alleged Attack on Officer

A D.C. police officer shot and critically wounded a man yesterday after he attacked the officer while she was checking for trespassers in a largely vacant apartment complex in Northwest Washington, authorities said.

The officer, a member of the department for 21 years, was checking an apartment in the two-story Kelsey Gardens complex, in the 1500 block of Seventh Street NW, when the shooting occurred shortly before 10 a.m., Assistant Police Chief Alfred Durham said.

Upon entering one of the apartments, the officer was attacked by a man armed with what police officials said was a "spiked martial arts-type weapon." Authorities did not release the man's name or the officer's name last night.

"The male jumped up and charged the officer, at which time she discharged several rounds, striking the individual two times," Durham said.

The man, described by neighbors as a son of a former tenant, was in critical condition at Howard University Hospital with wounds to his face and abdomen, Durham said. He said the officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of a knee injury suffered in the scuffle.

Asked whether the man had a weapon, Durham said, "We do not know that at this time." He said members of the department's force investigation team were piecing together what happened.

Alexander Padro, the advisory neighborhood commissioner for the area, said that Kelsey Gardens is scheduled for redevelopment and that fewer than 10 of the complex's 54 units are occupied. He said the woman who lived in the apartment where the shooting occurred was evicted in July.

He said the woman's son apparently was staying in the apartment illegally at the time of yesterday's incident.

Padro said the officer, assigned to the 3rd Police District, is a familiar presence in the neighborhood. "I think she's one of the best ones we have in the 3rd District," he said. "She's always been very responsive and very effective in terms of working with the community."

Durham said the officer and her partner were accompanying the complex's manager and two maintenance workers on a scheduled sweep of Kelsey Gardens, checking each vacant apartment for squatters and other trespassers.

"They were going to each apartment," he said. "They announced their presence prior to making entry in each apartment."

When the officer was attacked, Durham said, her partner was elsewhere in the apartment.

Staff writer Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.