WASHINGTON – A Washington police officer shot and killed a motorcyclist who rammed the passenger-side door of a police car after a traffic stop, police said Sunday.
The shooting occurred around 4:20 a.m. Sunday at 3rd and M streets, Northwest, about four blocks from the Washington Convention Center.
Acting police chief Peter Newsham said in a video posted on Twitter that police had gotten reports about a motorcycle driving erratically and caught up with it downtown. After officers stopped the motorcycle, Newsham said the motorcyclist tried to flee.
Police said in a news release that the motorcyclist intentionally drove into the passenger door as the officer was getting out of the passenger side of the police car. The officer opened fire, and the motorcyclist was shot. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Police identified the motorcyclist as Terrence Sterling, 31, of Fort Washington, Maryland.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting are under investigation, and witnesses were cooperative with officers on the scene, Newsham said.
A police spokesman said she did not know the race of Sterling or the officer who shot him.
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