Police Identify SE Man Fatally Shot by Officers

A 58-year-old man fatally shot by D.C. police Monday has been identified as a Southeast Washington resident who lived in the area where the confrontation occurred.

Officers from the 7th District went to the 1700 block of Trenton Place SE after Robert L. McFarlin Jr. called 911 about 1:15 p.m. and reported that he had killed his sister, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. McFarlin, who lived on that block, was found in the street holding several knives, and he did not drop them when warned by officers, Lanier said.

Lanier said that two of the three officers fired a total of three rounds, killing McFarlin. Police found his sister, who was not harmed.

The shooting took place outside the Garden Village Apartments, part of a block-long complex of brick buildings ringed by oaks off Alabama Avenue SE. Children in uniforms, walking home from school, saw the police tape and cruisers and asked neighbors what had happened.

The three officers were placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy. The force investigation team will look into the shooting, said Assistant Chief Michael Anzallo, who oversees internal affairs.

D.C. police say it is their policy not to identify officers involved in shootings. They were described only as a 31-year-old male master patrol officer who has been on the force for eight years and a female officer, 41, who joined the department three years ago.

Lanier said there have been 13 police-involved shootings this year, compared with nine at this time last year. That includes fatal shootings, people who were wounded and misses, Anzallo said.