Newly released police body camera footage of the nonfatal shooting of Deion Hinnant shows the 31-year-old running from Metropolitan Police Department officers while one of them repeatedly yells, “Let me see your hands!” The officer, identified as Investigator Bryan Madera, warns Hinnant that “I’m going to shoot you” before he fires about 12 shots, striking Hinnant.
D.C. Police have only publicly released body camera footage from Madera’s camera, though in previous police shootings, they have provided footage from multiple officers. MPD spokesperson Tom Lynch says the department only releases footage from multiple officers in fatal shootings. D.C. law requires MPD to release body camera footage and identify officers involved in serious and fatal uses of force within five working days of the incident.
A representative with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Hinnant was shot around 8:50 p.m. on April 1, in the Langdon neighborhood in Northeast. He survived the shooting and is now facing criminal charges. Hinnant’s public defender did not respond to a request for comment.
Madera’s body camera footage, which is slightly obscured because the officer is running, shows Madera and other officers chasing Hinnant for about 19 seconds before Hinnant is seen stumbling as he cuts around a corner. Madera then fires multiple rounds into Hinnant’s back . An affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court says that as Hinnant was running from the officers, he “appears to fall to the ground with his back to [Madera]. Defendant Hinnant gets up and turns his body 90 degrees to the right (eastbound), in the direction of [Madera].
“Defendant Hinnant then bends down reaching toward the ground with his right hand, appearing to retrieve an object,” the affidavit continues. “[Madera] discharged his service pistol multiple times at Defendant Hinnant.”
The affidavit does not say that Hinnant pointed the pistol at Madera or any other officer. But after he was initially shot and then stood up, the affidavit says, it appeared as if he attempted to toss the object in his hand, which officers believed was a pistol.
The affidavit says police later found a magazine at the corner of Bladensburg Road and V Street NE and a Hi-Point 9mm pistol on the roof of the building at 2110 Bladensburg Rd. NE.
According to the affidavit, officers working with the Violent Crime Suppression Division allegedly saw Hinnant get into an argument with an “unknown person.” Officers then claim that they saw Hinnant reach into “a satchel that was slung across his body, making officers believe that he was in possession of a firearm.” Hinnant began chasing the unknown person, according to police, prompting three officers to exit their unmarked patrol vehicles in pursuit. Another officer driving a marked car also joined the chase.
Hinnant has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm due to a prior felony conviction, possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition, assault on a police officer while armed, and possession with intent to distribute drugs. The affidavit says officers found a plastic baggie with a “white powdery substance the approximate size of a silver dollar,” along with two scales and $124 in cash.
Madera is on administrative leave while the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. reviews the case for potential criminal charges. Then MPD will conduct an internal investigation. No other officers are on administrative leave, Lynch says.
