Scot Shaffer Lewis was 28 and a two-year Metropolitan Police Department officer when he was shot on the evening of Friday, October 6, 1995, in the 1300 block of H Street NE. He and his partner had stopped to assist a motorist when a man approached and opened fire; a single bullet struck Lewis in the head. His partner returned fire and fatally wounded the assailant at the scene.

Lewis was taken to D.C. General Hospital in critical condition and died there on Monday, October 9, 1995. He lived in Bowie, Maryland, with his mother and volunteered as a firefighter in his hometown. His funeral drew over 1,500 mourners, including more than a thousand uniformed officers, and a procession led his flag-draped coffin to the Washington National Cathedral.

What details about that October 6 encounter or the assailant’s actions might help explain how the shooting began?