Do you know who murdered Deandre Johnson? In the fall of 2021, a police encounter in Southeast Washington, D.C. turned fatal for a 30-year-old Black man named Deandre Johnson. On the afternoon of Monday, October 18, 2021, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department arrived at an apartment on Congress Street to serve a temporary protection order against Johnson. The order was related to an incident that had occurred just days prior, in which Johnson was accused of threatening a woman with a gun.
Upon their arrival, the officers made the decision to arrest Johnson. A struggle ensued as they attempted to take him into custody. During the altercation, one officer's body-worn camera was momentarily deactivated. According to police, Johnson resisted and allegedly tried to grab an officer's firearm from their holster. It was in this moment that another officer, identified as Juwan Jefferson, fired his weapon, shooting Johnson twice in the back.
The entire encounter, from the time officers entered the apartment until the fatal shots were fired, lasted less than a minute. Deandre Johnson died at the scene.
The aftermath of the shooting saw the release of the body-camera footage to the public and the placement of the involved officers on administrative leave, standard procedure in such cases. The U.S. Attorney's Office initiated an independent criminal investigation into the shooting. Johnson's family and community members, joined by organizations such as Black Lives Matter D.C., held vigils and called for justice and transparency in the investigation. They questioned the official narrative and demanded the immediate termination of the officer who fired the fatal shots. No gun was recovered from the apartment following the incident.
