by Derrill Holly, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Police officials said it appears a Washington officer had just cause to shoot a teen-ager who took aim with a fake gun.
“From the preliminary information I have right now, it looks like the officer was justified,” Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey said of the Friday morning shooting in the city’s Adams Morgan section.
Officer Robert Glenn was off duty but in uniform at around 6 a.m. when he saw a man running from a traffic accident, investigators said. Witnesses were chasing him.
Glenn ordered the man to stop, but he refused and pulled what appeared to be a handgun. It turned out to be a replica. Police identified the man as Miguel Angel Gonzales, 17, of Washington, D.C., and said he was driving a stolen car that he crashed into another vehicle before fleeing.
“When you look at replicas now, it’s very difficult to tell the difference until you can actually look at it and examine it,” Ramsey said of the fake gun.
Glenn has been with the department since May, 2000 when he began six months of academy training. He recently completed his one-year probationary period. Glenn is expected to be assigned to administrative duties during the investigation.
Police also arrested an unidentified 17-year-old woman who was allegedly in the stolen car with Gonzales. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and unauthorized use of a vehicle.