The 18-year-old who was shot and killed during a gunfight in Adams Morgan had fired at police first, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said.
Michael Griffin was fleeing the scene of a large fight near Champlain Street and Kalorama Road, NW, when two undercover DC police officers ordered the teen to drop his weapon early Saturday morning.
Instead, Griffin fled. As the cops ran after him, Griffin turned and opened fire on the plain clothes officers, hitting one in the leg and the other in the back.
Responding to this incident and another shooting in the District this weekend, Mayor Adrian Fenty blamed other factors for the violence. "As you can see, with warm weather and more people on the streets, it does increase the rate of serious violence in our community," he said.
Griffin's mother, Lolita, told News4 that the shooting of her son was just "like so many stories going around right now." She also said that she found it surprising that her son, an aspiring basketball coach, would have a weapon.
"I'm just living in mourning for the life of my son... I can't say nothing bad about him," she said. "He was just beautiful."
