Officer involved in fatal shooting during mental health crisis response will not face charges

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday that there isn’t sufficient evidence to pursue any charges against D.C. officer Claude Jackson for his role in the fatal shooting of Clifford Brooks on Jan. 24.

During a nearly seven-month investigation, The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) Internal Affairs Division reviewed evidence, surveillance videos, body-worn camera footage, audio and visual recordings from the ambulance, witness accounts, autopsy records, and MPD reports.

According to the evidence, on Jan. 24, an officer saw Brooks outside of a 7-Eleven along Benning Road in Northeast. The officer believed Brooks was experiencing some sort of mental health crisis and requested a Crisis Intervention Officer. 

Officer Jackson arrived at the 7-Eleven around 6:45 a.m. and confirmed that Brooks was experiencing some sort of mental health crisis. Officer Jackson stayed with Brooks for an hour before he ran out of the back of the convenience store. 

Brooks was found hiding in a shed behind a home nearby when officers arrived and called first responders to come take him away. At 8:30 a.m., first responders were able to get Brooks out of the shed using minimal force and into an ambulance. 

As the ambulance was taking Brooks to a local medical center in Northwest, he reportedly began attacking the firefighters in the ambulance with him. When the driver pulled over, Brooks allegedly pushed the firefighter out of the ambulance and ran into oncoming traffic along North Capitol Street. 

Officer Jackson and two other officers chased Brooks before he hid under a box truck. As officers surrounded the truck, Brooks reportedly grabbed a piece of metal that was on the ground next to the truck and allegedly charged at the officers. Officer Jackson ordered Brooks to “drop it” multiple times but he continued lunging towards him. 

At this point, Officer Jackson shot at Brooks six times. During the autopsy, officials found that Brooks had been hit four times, including a fatal shot to the chest. After reviewing the evidence from the events that transpired that day, prosecutors say they do not have enough evidence to prove without a reasonable doubt that Officer Jackson is criminally liable for Brooks’ death.