Man arrested for fatal shooting near DC gas station claims self defense

WASHINGTON (7News) — On Wednesday, a man and a woman got into a minor car crash at a gas station on Good Hope Road in Southeast D.C. The woman's boyfriend showed up, according to court documents, and began punching the driver of the other car. That driver, identified as Anthony Williams, then shot and killed the boyfriend, court documents detailed.

READ MORE: Man shot, killed in road rage incident at gas station parking lot in Southeast DC: MPD

An employee of the BP gas station said the woman attempted to get the security guard to help, but they declined. Williams stayed on the scene and was taken into custody.

The US. Attorney's Office charged Williams with carrying a pistol without a license.

Williams was released on high supervisory detention with an ankle monitor Thursday, according to officials. Currently, Williams is saying the shooting was in self-defense, and according to D.C. Courts, he's expected to have a court hearing in late January.

"Another senseless act of violence over an accident. Someone decides to bring a gun into an argument over an accident. That's exactly what it is. It's an accident," Metropolitan Police Department Commander John Branch said of the shooting. "We have to do better. This senseless violence where people decide to bring guns to all these different things to settle disputes, we have to do better."

D.C. leaders Thursday discussed the city's ongoing issue with gun violence and road rage incidents after the Southeast D.C. fender bender turned deadly on Wednesday.

"An overwhelming majority of crimes committed by a small identifiable number of individuals," D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen said.

Allen, the Council's Judiciary Chairman, held a virtual roundtable Thursday on the city's gun violence reduction plan. The plan's author, David Muhammad, has studied D.C. for a while.

"What we found in most places, particularly in D.C., are retaliatory shootings, shooting began shootings," Muhammad said.

The idea is to intervene with arrests or counseling quickly enough, using police and violence interrupters.

Kevin Donahue, the acting deputy mayor for public safety, said there's good news and bad news when you look at the data in the District.

The good news?

"Based on data as of this morning, citywide crime is 6% lower than last year, 10% lower in homicides," he said.

The bad?

"We have seen almost 100 juveniles shot this year compared to 53 at this time last year almost," he added.