Mother of man killed by police calls for transparency

WASHINGTON — A Southeast D.C. community is urging city leaders to release more information regarding the death of a man after he was shot and killed by police in February.

Alaunte Scott was killed by Deputy U.S. Marshals on February 28, 2023.

Just 39 days later, community members spent Saturday afternoon rallying for transparency.

Alaunte's mother, Alanta Scott, was one of them.

"When my son died, a part of me died," she said.

Weeks after the deadly shooting, Alanta Scott said she's still waiting for clear answers from law enforcement about what led up to the killing.

"They need to be accountable," she said.

The shooting happened in the 4300 Block of 3rd Street in Southeast D.C., according to DC Police. 

Detectives claim the incident began when deputy marshals attempted to serve Scott with arrest warrants. They say Scott fled after deputy marshals attempted to arrest him and ultimately produced a gun, leading two deputy marshals to shoot him.

At the time, DC Police Chief Robert Contee could not say whether Scott ever pulled the trigger.

"I don't know if he fired any shots," said Contee at a press conference on February 28.

At that same press conference, Robert Dixon, U.S. Marshal for DC Superior Court, wouldn't say what the warrants out for Scott were for.

"They were various warrants. Particularly the one that we had was a legitimate warrant and that's what basically led us to pursue the guy today," said Dixon. "So I don't think it's particularly interesting or particularly of value to go into specifics of the other warrants but they were for throughout the DMV area."

Now, the Scott family, as well as Black Lives Matter DC, is calling for city leaders to release all available bodycam footage of the shooting. 

They're also asking that authorities identify the deputy marshals involved and release all reports connected to the shooting.

"The Metropolitan Police Department was not involved in the incident that led up to the officer-involved shooting by the United States Marshals Service," said a spokesperson for DC Police, when contacted Saturday and asked if they would be releasing any bodycam footage.

DC Police are responsible for investigating all deadly officer-involved shootings within the District, a department spokesperson said. 

On Saturday, that spokesperson confirmed the department's preliminary investigation is complete and has been sent to the United States Attorney's Office for their independent review.

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