Man wanted after DC officer’s death appears in court for first time

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — The man wanted for throwing a loaded gun that led to the accidental death of Investigator Wayne David appeared in court for the first time Thursday after turning himself in to police on Wednesday night.

Tyrell Lamonte Bailey, 27, faces three charges: possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and unlawfully discarding a firearm and ammunition.

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was searching for Bailey in the week after David’s death.

At around 5:40 p.m. on Aug. 28, officers were canvassing the 4500 block of Quarles Street NE when they said they saw Bailey get out of a suspicious car. Officers tried to stop him, but he ran toward I-295 South.

MPD said Bailey jumped down from a retaining wall and dropped a gun in a storm drain before he got on the back of a motorcycle and fled.

David and several other officers were called to the scene to recover the gun from the drain. That’s when it accidentally discharged and hit him. He was taken to a hospital where he later died. He was 52 years old.

Technicians from the Department of Forensic Sciences responded to the scene at about 7 p.m., removed the storm drain’s metal cover and recovered a “Smith & Wesson M+P Shield 40, .40 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Outside the courtroom, Bailey’s grandmother Sheila Bailey Wilson said, “It’s a bunch of bull****.” She said her grandson wasn’t doing anything suspicious that night.

“He’s a good person. He’s a hard-working man. He’s supposed to be at work now,” Wilson said.

She mentioned he has a daughter turning two on Oct. 4.

A detention hearing was set for Sept. 10 at 11:30 a.m.

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