Terrence Sterling

Terrence Sterling, 31, was shot and killed by Metropolitan Police Department Officer Brian Trainer in Washington, D.C. in the early morning hours of September 11, 2016, after officers blocked his motorcycle with their cruiser following a high-speed chase. Trainer said Sterling revved his motorcycle and rammed it into the cruiser's door, pinning his leg, forcing him to fire twice through the window; an internal MPD investigator later testified he doubted Trainer's account, and the department's own review board found Trainer was not in danger and had no reason to draw his weapon at all. Trainer had not activated his body camera until one to three minutes after the shooting, violating department policy. Federal prosecutors declined to bring charges in August 2017. D.C.'s MPD trial board recommended firing Trainer months later for the unjustified shooting, and the police chief fired him in 2018 after his appeal was denied — an administrative outcome, not a criminal one. No one has ever been criminally charged in Sterling's death.

Washington, DC

• 2016: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The chase, the cruiser blocking Sterling's path, and the shooting, per the U.S. Attorney's Office's public statement and subsequent MPD internal review findings.
• Sterling had been driving erratically and at high speed, reaching over 100 mph at times and running red lights, before officers caught up to him; his autopsy found a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit and marijuana in his system.
• Trainer did not activate his body camera until one to three minutes after the shooting, in violation of department policy.
• An MPD internal affairs investigator testified to the department's trial board that he did not believe Trainer sustained the leg injury he described from the motorcycle striking the cruiser door, instead believing it occurred while Trainer was attempting to render aid to Sterling afterward.
• The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced in August 2017 that there was insufficient evidence to prove Trainer had violated Sterling's civil rights with the necessary criminal intent, declining federal or D.C. charges; per a 2016 study cited by The Washington Post, no D.C. police officer had ever been criminally indicted for a fatal on-duty shooting.
• MPD's own internal review, obtained by The Washington Post in December 2017, found Trainer had no reason to pull his gun and was not in danger when he fired, directly contradicting his account; a department trial board recommended his firing, and Police Chief Peter Newsham terminated him in June 2018 after denying his appeal.
• The District of Columbia settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Sterling's family for $3.5 million, described at the time as the largest such payout in the city's history.

• Whether Sterling intentionally rammed the cruiser door, as Trainer maintained, or whether the collision occurred differently, was disputed by the department's own internal investigator and trial board, and was never resolved by any criminal proceeding since none was brought.
• Why federal prosecutors concluded the evidence was insufficient for criminal charges when the department's own internal review reached the opposite conclusion about whether the shooting was justified has not been reconciled in any single public accounting.
• The specific content of witness Howard Dorsey's account, which Trainer's attorneys and prosecutors weighed differently in reaching their respective conclusions, has been described inconsistently across public reporting.

• The Washington Post — “D.C. officer who fatally shot unarmed motorcyclist was not in danger when he pulled his gun, internal review finds”
• The Washington Post — “D.C. police officer will not face criminal charges in 2016 fatal shooting of motorcyclist”
• WTOP News — “DC Police Department terminates officer who shot and killed motorcyclist in 2016”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs