A 19-year-old man with a criminal history in Maryland and Washington was fatally shot Thursday morning by a Prince George’s County police officer after authorities said he pointed a gun at another officer as they investigated a suspicious car.
The incident unfolded about 8 a.m. on a residential street in Capitol Heights, Md., outside Washington. Police recovered two guns from the scene, including a 9mm Carbine rifle, and said the vehicle matched descriptions of one used in recent robberies and shootings in the vicinity.
The dead man was identified as Terrance Toshay Thomas Jr., who lived four blocks from where he was killed. A passenger who was in the vehicle and tried to run away was arrested, police said.
Officers performed CPR on Thomas, who died at an area hospital.
A D.C. Superior Court jury convicted Thomas two weeks ago of two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of destruction of property after police said he rammed a police car following a police pursuit that began in Prince George’s County and ended in Washington in July. Police said the 2003 Buick Regal Thomas was driving had been taken in a carjacking in Maryland.
A judge sentenced Thomas to 180 days in jail but suspended the sentence and imposed a year probation. The county officers had suffered minor injuries. Meanwhile, Thomas had been awaiting a February trial in Prince George’s County after he was arrested in October and charged with numerous felony firearms offenses. He was out on bail when he was killed.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Michael E. Miller, Peter Hermann
