'He did not deserve to die' | Armed driver killed by DC Police was an anti-violence advocate, family says

WASHINGTON — The family of an armed driver shot and killed by DC Police outside a McDonald's in Southeast are calling into question the response from officers that led to the death of 26-year-old Justin Robinson.

Police say that on Sunday just after 5:30 a.m. they received a call about a minor accident with an injury that happened in the drive-thru of the fast food restaurant located on Marion Barry Avenue, Southeast. The crash left minor damage to the building, according to police. 

When officers arrived on scene, they located Robinson unresponsive and they noticed he had a gun in his lap, according to DC Police Chief Pamela Smith. 

As Robinson regained consciousness, Smith says he grabbed his gun. 

"As officers gave him verbal commands to drop the weapon, the suspect grabbed the officer's service weapon," Smith said during a Sunday news conference. "At that time, two of our officers discharged their service weapon striking the suspect."

Smith was questioned by reporters about the sequence of events prior to the shooting, said an officer "extended their gun" into the vehicle through an open window.

Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene, Smith said. 

"Why did it happen? Shots fired so many times. I am not understanding," Southeast D.C. resident Shawn Taylor said.

Throughout the day, community members stopped by the scene telling WUSA9 that the details provided by police were unclear. 

The chief said a weapon was recovered from the scene and the officers involved in the incident activated their body cameras.

"We want justice for Justin," Taylor added.

Perhaps those with the most questions about the incident are Robinson's family members. A woman who asked not to be identified arrived to the McDonald's to walk through the scene. "I don't think he deserved this, and this is why I came out here, on my own to see what it was that made this officers to shoot this baby like that. Regardless if he hit a wall or hit anything, he didn't deserve to die," she told WUSA9.

Family says Robinson did advocacy work in Southeast focused on violence reduction. "He was getting his life together, doing great. Doing good. He also went around the neighborhoods to help children, trying to better them, teaching them, taking them on jobs to get them off the streets," the family-member added.

Robinson leaves behind a twin brother and on Monday was planning to participate in a celebration of life for a friend he lost to gun violence, according to family members. 

Loved ones say that although it will be painful to watch, they want to see the body-warn camera footage from the deadly incident. Under D.C. code, police have five days to identify the officers involved and publicly release the video. 

The officers from the 7th District who opened fire are on administrative leave as is department policy. The incident is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau and by the U.S. Attorney's Office.