The suspect in a carjacking incident that left a former Trump administration official with life-threatening injuries this week was previously arrested on multiple felony charges that were later dropped by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia.
Artell Cunningham, 28, was shot and killed by police officers after an alleged string of violent carjacking incidents, including shooting and killing 35-year-old Alberto Vasquez Jr., and shooting former Commodity Futures Trading Commission employee Mike Gill in the head, causing "life-threatening injuries," according to police.
The Washington Examiner reported that Cunningham was arrested in January 2021 after attempting to enter an apartment where his siblings were inside at the time. He reportedly became "physically aggressive with officers" when they prevented him from entering the unit and was subsequently arrested.
"While he was detained Defendant Cunningham advised Officers that if he wasn't released he was going to shoot them all," Metropolitan Police Department Officer Erica Cephus noted in the arrest report, according to the Examiner. "Defendant Cunningham then advised, 'I swear all I need to do is make one phone call and you all will be dead. I will kill each and every one of you.'"
Cunningham was arrested on felony threat charges, but these were later downgraded to misdemeanor threats to do bodily harm and eventually dropped by the United States Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia, which was under the control of interim U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin at the time.
Gill was hospitalized in critical condition, Gill's family told Fox 5 on Tuesday. Gill, a married father of three, is the senior vice president for Capital Markets at the Housing Policy Council. He previously served as the Republican representative on the D.C. Board of Elections.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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