On Thursday, a sentencing decision was made concerning an armed Special Police Officer from Alexandria who shot a woman during an altercation that unfolded outside a Northeast DC 7-Eleven earlier this year. The incident, which occurred more than three months ago, resulted in the officer, Chanel Clinton, being sentenced to 36 months in prison, with an additional 24 months of suspended jail time.
Court reports reveal that on a January Thursday, Clinton, who was on duty as a Special Police Officer, engaged in a dispute with her victim, a former friend, after being videotaped in a taunting manner inside the store on Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE. The argument escalated outside the establishment, with an off-duty Metropolitan Police Department sergeant intervening as the situation turned physical.
After a brief separation by the sergeant, Clinton unexpectedly drew her service weapon and fired a single shot, striking the other woman in the shoulder area above the collarbone.
Despite being instructed to drop the weapon before discharging it, Clinton was promptly arrested by the sergeant. The victim was subsequently treated for minor injuries at a nearby medical facility, and a 9mm Glock 17 pistol was recovered from the scene. Clinton pleaded guilty in February to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and is also mandated to serve five years of probation along with her prison sentence.