D.C. police have released body camera footage of a fatal officer-involved shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop, according to reports by NBC Washington.
Antwan Gilmore, 27, was killed by an officer early Wednesday morning while in his car. He was awakened from his sleep as police approached his vehicle.
In a five-and-a-half-minute video, the footage shows several officers surrounding Gilmore’s black BMW and knocking on the car's windows before mentioning seeing a gun.
“I can’t see his hands,” one officer said.
As the car begins to move forward, the officers can be heard yelling, “Don’t move!” and “Police!”
Several shots were fired into the vehicle and a gun was later found in Gilmore’s waistband, according to the police.
@DCPoliceDept found my friend and longtime neighbor #AntwanGilmore sleeping in his car, startled him awake, then shot and killed him. This other guy shut down Capitol Hill for a day with a bomb threat and was then gently taken into custody. This is what racism looks like. pic.twitter.com/VnXp8xiQie
— Paul Seamus Ryan (he/him) (@ThePaulSRyan) August 27, 2021
In a press conference on Wednesday, Police Chief Robert Contee gave his account of the incident, NPR reported.
"[Officers] attempted to wake the individual,” Contee said. “At some point, he awakened, and at that point, that individual was engaged by officers, and at some point, from there, shots were fired.”
“It’s very difficult to see through the lens of the officer, the one officer in this case that fired. It’s very difficult to see what that officer is seeing,” he continued. “What did he perceive to be the threat at that point?”
According to the police department's policy, officers are not allowed to shoot at a moving vehicle, the police chief said.
Contee also said that the officer has not given a statement to the department but promised accountability.
Jordan White, a D.C. resident, said she witnessed the shooting, recorded it and posted the video on Instagram, which has now been deleted. Her video footage provided more details than what Contee shared.
"Your automatic instinct is just to record … with all that's going on," she said.
White said she saw police repeatedly knock on the car's window and returned to the car several times, aiming their guns at the driver's side window.
As the car moved forward, she said, it stopped briefly then moved forward again, before police began shooting into the car window.
"It was like as soon as the car jumped, they just started shooting," she said.
White said the car kept moving but eventually crashed. She also said that after the shooting, she turned to two Black men who were also stopped in a car next to her.
"They were crying, and I was crying. We were just like, 'I can't believe I just witnessed them kill somebody,'" she said.
Contee noted the bravery of the officer who he said was simply doing his job.
"This is a brave officer who was out here doing his job," Contee said. "He was actually showing compassion by moving someone who was involved in the use of illegal drugs, moving that person on. But unfortunately, this person was armed and decided to pull a firearm on the officer and he defended himself."
