D.C. police arrest man whose discarded gun was factor in death of beloved officer

D.C. police have arrested the suspect whose abandoned gun discharged while Investigator Wayne David was trying to retrieve the weapon from a sewer, killing the officer.

Metropolitan Police told WTOP that officers took Tyrell Lamonte Bailey into custody on illegal gun charges following his arrest around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Mr. Bailey, 27, is accused of tossing his gun down a highway storm drain on Aug. 28 after he ran from authorities on the 4500 block of Quarles Street NE.

The gun went off as Investigator David was trying to fish it out of the drain. The veteran officer died in a hospital later that night.

Police said Mr. Bailey made good on his escape last week by hopping on the back of a passing motorcycle. Authorities said there was “no indication” the suspect and the biker knew each other.

The Metropolitan Police Department and federal agencies partnered to offer a $60,000 award for information leading to Mr. Bailey’s arrest.

Investigator David, 51, has been the focus of various memorials and tributes since his untimely death.

The slain officer’s former patrol car sits outside the special operations division in Northeast, complete with mementos to his time on the force and a black mourning band struck through the MPD logo.

Cmdr. Jeff Kopp, who heads up MPD’s violent crime suppression division that included Investigator David, said the memorial will stay in place until his funeral next week.

“Just a great guy. He’s going to be really missed around here,” Cmdr. Jeff Kopp, who heads the violent crime suppression division that included Investigator David, told The Washington Times on Tuesday. “He was a mentor to people, a teacher. People really looked up to Wayne. He’s a big loss for us.”

A vigil was held Monday outside the fallen officer’s Langdon home earlier this week where friends and loved ones shared the effect Investigator David had on their life.

His fiancé, Kalihah Barber, a fellow police officer, said the investigator would stop everything to lend someone a helping hand, while his son Davon David was overcome with emotion as he observed the dozens of people who showed up for the impromptu gathering.

“Those are the kind of cops we need — cops that come from our communities, that understand our plight,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Harry Thomas, who grew up with Investigator David and organized the vigil. “For me, it’s just a tragedy that someone as trained and as special as him would die while recovering a weapon.”

Police Chief Pamela Smith called Investigator David a “true servant” during the vigil.

A Sept. 12 funeral is planned at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland.