College freshman detained by D.C. police: ‘I didn’t want to die’
An 18-year-old college student, who was detained by D.C. police, told reporters Thursday he ran from the officers because he feared for his life.
An 18-year-old college student, who was detained by D.C. police, told reporters Thursday he ran from the officers because he feared for his life.
According to NBC Washington, Jason Goolsby, a freshman at the University of the District of Columbia, had just finished training for a program helping troubled kids by promoting safe sex and AIDS prevention when he had to jump out of the way of a police SUV.
After Goolsby jumped out of the way, he met with a police officer who had his hand on his gun and pepper spray. The officer threatened to use the pepper spray if Goolsby didn’t get on the ground, but Goolsby refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong.
“I seen the gun and the pepper spray, and I nearly got hit by a car, so my first instinct was to run, because I didn’t want to die,” Goolsby said. “I feared for my life.”
He was forcibly taken down by police, and the entire interaction was recorded by on of Goolsby’s friends, 18-year-old Michael Brown. No one was arrested or charged.
Both Goolsby and Brown were detained in handcuffs for almost two hours.
Police are now investigating the incident.
“The Metropolitan Police Department is conducting a review of Monday’s unfortunate incident to ensure that all procedures were followed,” Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue said in a statment.
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