A D.C. police officer died late Wednesday, hours after a suspect’s discarded gun misfired and shot the officer while he was trying to retrieve it.

Metropolitan Police Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll identified the slain officer as Investigator Wayne David, a veteran who’s been on the force for over 25 years. Chief Carroll said the incident is counted as a line-of-duty death.

“Wayne is a true hero,” Chief Carroll said. “Today, he gave his life to serve the visitors and the residents here in the District of Columbia, and we will never forget that.”

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Mayor Muriel Bowser released a statement late Wednesday saying the tragic mishap claimed the life of a “beloved officer.”

“A D.C. native and a mentor to many officers, he helped get hundreds of guns off our streets, and just a few years ago, he received the MPD Ribbon of Valor,” Ms. Bowser said. “Beyond being an officer, he was a good man – and a great dad – that many people loved and looked up to.” 

The assistant chief said earlier that Investigator David was hit in the upper body shortly after 5:40 p.m. as he fished the weapon out of a storm drain on Interstate 295.

The D.C. Police Union said Investigator David was struck in the head by the errant bullet.

The gun was placed there by a man who ran off when officers initially approached him in an alley on the 4500 block of Quarles Street Northeast.

Police said the suspect jumped down onto the highway, put the gun in the drain and then darted across traffic to the other side of the road. That’s when the man hopped onto the back of a passing motorcycle. The biker sped off moments later.  

“We have no indication that he knew the person that the motorcycle he got on the back of,” Assistant Chief Carroll said. “We do know that he ran in the roadway, in the southbound lanes and actually climbed kind of - there’s a gap in the fence between the southbound lanes - and got on the northbound side and jumped on the back of the motorcycle.”

Authorities said the suspect is a Black man with long dreadlocks who was last seen wearing a white shirt and light blue shorts.

Mayor Muriel Bowser called the event a “tragic” mishap earlier Wednesday, before the officer died.

“While preliminary information indicates that the gunshot was the result of a tragic accident, this is a horrible reminder of the dangers our officers face every day. We are grateful for their service,” she posted on X.