In the early morning hours of August 25, 2021, 27-year-old AnTwan Gilmore, a Black man, was found asleep in his car at a traffic light at the intersection of Florida and New York Avenue in Northeast D.C. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a call about an unconscious person in a vehicle and upon arrival, they observed Gilmore unresponsive with his foot on the brake of the running car.
They also reported seeing a handgun in his waistband.
A total of 18 officers were at the scene as they cleared the area of other traffic and pedestrians. After about ten minutes, officers, with one holding a ballistic shield, approached Gilmore's BMW and knocked on the window to wake him. Body camera footage shows that as Gilmore awakened with a confused look on his face, his car began to move forward. It was at this point that Metropolitan Police Sergeant Enis Jevric fired his service weapon multiple times into the vehicle. Gilmore’s car continued to roll forward before crashing into a tree. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. It was later noted that the handgun officers had seen remained tucked in his waistband, underneath his buckled seatbelt. No other officer at the scene discharged their weapon.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Sergeant Enis Jevric was charged with second-degree murder and a federal civil rights violation for willfully depriving Gilmore of his right to be free from excessive force. The police chief at the time acknowledged that the shooting violated the department's policy against shooting at moving vehicles. The incident sparked community outcry and calls for justice from organizations like Black Lives Matter. In February 2024, Jevric, then 42, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and to using unconstitutional, excessive force. In August 2024, the former police sergeant was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
