Evening star., 1893-11-22
Young Willis Washington Mistaken
for the Slasher.
SHOF BY A POLICEMAN THIS MORNING.
Refused to Halt and the Officer
Fired.
A DEPLORABLE OCCURRENCE.

will in all probability be charged to the
rascally operations Of Jack the Slasher"
The man whose life is now in the balance
Is Willis Washington, a negro nineteen
years old. He was shot by Policeman
Charles 3. Terry of the eighth precinct
The affair took place near the corner of
18th and U streets northwest about $40
o'clock this morning Washington is in
the Emergency Hospital and the officer is
detained at the police station, virtually
under arrest
Oficsr Terry and his partner. Policeman
william Steurmann. were on duty together.
They were in citizens clothes as the officers
nave been since the appearance of the van
dals- During the early hours OF the morn
Ing they visited all parts of their beat and
did not fail to walk through every alley
and vacant lot examining back gates and
looking over fences. thinking they might
perhaps come across an intruder trying to
open rear window or cut the panel from
a door. Jack the Slasher" has worked In
the rear Of houses right along. always pre-
1err1ng the dark places instead Of going
where the light of the moon or gas lamps
would reveal his presence to an officer who
might be In hiding in some dark nook or
corner.
They Found a Man.
IL Is perhaps needless to say that they
Old not come across Jack" nor did they
even pick up or see a suspicious character
1t was about $50 o'clock when they reach
ed the vicinity Of 14th and streets and
they stopped to look across the vacant lots
While so engaged they saw the form of a
man approaching from the direction of 18th
street Soon they saw thst he was a color
ed man and they concluded to wait and
overhaul him. 1t was too early in the
morning. they thought. for a working man
TO be on the street and for that reason
they were reasonably certain that the
man could give no good account of his pres
ence at that hour The negro walked a
short distance and then he suddenly left
the sidewalk and went over to the north
side Of the street. That was the side of
the street on which the officers were at that
particular time. 1t is evident that the negro
saw the officers after he had crossed the
street for he suddenly retraced his foot
steps to the south side of the street and
started to continue on his way to 14th
street.
When he had reached a point not more
than seventy-five feet from l4th street, the
officers spoke to him telling him to halt
but their demand fell upon the ears of the
negro with as much effect water on a
ducks back. and instead of stopping he
turned south and started through the lot
IN the direction of T street.
stop there" cried one Of the policemen.
rWe are officers"
This repeated several times, but the
man only FASTENED his footsteps.
Fired at the Suspect.
Hold on there the officers repeated, and
then Policeman Terry drew his revolver.
One shot was fired in the direction of the
ground and the officer ran far enough from
the smoke of the revolver to tell whether
the man had stopped or not, in order to
guide him in what steps he would take to
effect his capture Seeing that the fleeing
negro would not stop the officer fired a
second shot.
hts rfv,,a fI,ao ofF7 rnic hfc
little and when the negro fell to the ground
he was satisfied that the bullet had taken
effect
Il amt done nothin' boss" said the negro,
when the officer reached him. 'I was on
my way to work.
why didn't you stop when We called to
you?' one of the officers asked him.
Cause 1 thought you was DOCTORS" was
the wounded n ans reply.
Then the colored man put his hand behind
him and showed plainly that he was suffer
ing intense pain
The officers then made an examination of
his back and found from the blood stains
that the bullet had entered his body.
call from the nearest signal box brought
out the patrol wagon and the injured man
was soon conveyed to the Emergency Hos
pital There he was examined by Drs. Pyle
and Beatty, who found that the bullet had
entered over the region of the twelfth or
last dcrsal vertebrae and inflicted a wound
from which full recovery is extremely
doubtful An antiseptic dressing of the
wound by the doctors was made and the
patient was removed upstairs to the ward
where DIR. Kerr will probably probe for the
bullet when the patients condition will
Justlfy such an operation. The doctors who
attended the patient this morning were I'M
able to tell just how serious the wound was
symptoms of paralysis In the lower ex-
tremities indicated a serious spinal injury
but until Dr. Kerr makes a more extended
examination his exact condition will not be
known. The chances for his recovery, how
ever, are decidedly against him, ii is
thought.
Certain He Was Not the SIasher.
News of the shooting spread among
the officers Of the different sections of the
city, as we'll as among the citizens general
ly. and gossip had it that the slasher had
been killed
Washington, however. is not the slasher
He seems to bear a good reputation among
those who know him an honest and in
dustrfous young man. He is one Of seven
brothers. all of whom reside in this city
One of his brothers. Daniel Washington is
a local Baptist preacher The injured man
Is not quite twenty years old. He came
here about four years ago from his home
near Osso Post office King George coun-
~. Virginia, and for the past nine months
has occupied a room in the house of Mrs.
few hundred feet from where he was
shot
An Industrious Young Man.
He was employed In the county, either on
or near the Holmead property. Mrs. Mum
ford told Star reporter this morning that
Willis Washin gton had occupied room in
Ter house for nearly a year; that he was
. sober and Industrious young man, and
that he seldom left the house at night. He
oio not eat his meals at her house. but
went TO an eating establishment kept by
nus brother on 11th street.
one saio ne had been in the habit of
leaving the house about o'clock in the
morning. he then went to his brothers.
Mnere ne got his breakfast and lunch
FROM there he went to his work This
morning, she said, he left home earlier
tnan usual because the clock in the house
was taSt, and she was surprised when she
,,earneo OF what had happened. because she
Knew ne had never harmed ANYBODY
Mhen Foncennan Terry reached the sta
olon tnis morning he was placed under ar
rest ana Omcer Henricks was detailed to
time. 't OieaAiast
The Man Who Did the Shooting.
Policeman Terry has been a member of
tne ponce force few months. During this
time ne has been tried in the police court
on charge OF shooting al a coIored man.
and ne also figured in the arrest Of a Young