Tyrell Lamont Bailey Charged with Killing MPD Officer, Washington D.C., 2024

Washington D.C. police officer killed in the line of duty after a discarded handgun discharged. A 27-year-old suspect has been charged in connection with the crime.

Investigator Wayne David, 52, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was attempting to recover a firearm from a storm drain on I-295 in Northeast Washington D.C. when the handgun discharged, killing him.

Tyrell Lamont Bailey, of Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, was arrested last night and charged by criminal complaint with multiple counts in connection with the handgun, including possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and unlawfully discarding a firearm and ammunition.

Bailey had an initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Acting Special Agent in Charge James VanVliet of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to court documents, members of the MPD Robbery Suppression Unit (RSU) were patrolling in the area of the 1600 block of Kenilworth Ave. NE, about 5:30 p.m. on August 28, 2024, when they spotted a man with long black dreadlocks sprint away from them.

The officers gave chase as the man ran through the DC Public Housing Complex on the 4400 block of Quarles Street and then jumped a retaining wall that borders Interstate 295. Officers saw the man drop something into a storm drain on the shoulder of southbound lane of the highway, and then fled the area going northbound.

Investigator Wayne David attempted to recover the firearm from the storm drain, and while doing so, the firearm discharged and killed him. Technicians from the Department of Forensic Sciences responded to the scene and recovered a Smith & Wesson M+P Shield 40, .40 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number.

Detectives were later able to identify the defendant through a review of related video surveillance. The case is being investigated by the ATF’s NIBIN Investigations Unit, which includes members of the ATF and MPD, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle McWaters.

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