Washington, D.C. police brass have reportedly taken a step back from confirming statements they made about a shooting that left two officers injured and a 47-year-old man dead on Thursday night, February 23, after a recording of the shooting taken by a civilians cell phone reared up on social media.

The 45-second snippet appears to show Timothy Williams on his stomach, with one officer attempting to restrain him on the ground, when another runs up and fires three shots while standing over his body. They officer who had been wrestling with the man on the ground, then stumbles forward, seemingly hurt, as a swarm of police draw in for aid.

Seconds prior to the officer letting off shots, one of the officers could be heard yelling "shots fired," leaving question as to what occurred at the northeastern D.C. scene. Authorities initially reported Williams having been stopped at around 10:40 p.m. in response to calls about gunfire in the Trinidad neighborhood. They say that he attempted to flee, and disregarded multiple commands to stop. The gunfire came, authorities initially reported, after a struggle ensued.

Following the video's release, Police Chief Peter Newsham stated that the department is not in a position to confirm exactly what happened, and that it was too early to conclude whether the shooting was "justified", although he said that a handgun was recovered and it is believed to have belonged to Williams. Newsham admitted to having reviewed involved officers' body camera recordings, but would not go into detail about what he saw.

"Whatever you have seen so far is not complete," he told the public during a Friday press conference. "I don't know exactly what happened and I caution people to not jump to conclusions."

The investigation is ongoing.

Source: twitter.com