Shell casings found at the scene of DeOnte Rawlings’ shooting death match a .45-caliber weapon found in the closet of a man arrested on suspicion of an unrelated shooting last week, but authorities aren’t sure that proves the gun was fired during an encounter with off-duty police, The Examiner has learned.

Authorities found numerous shell casings in the Condon Terrace neighborhood on the night DeOnte was shot in the back of the head, including .45-caliber casings. But the FBI’s ShotSpotter technology, which is supposed to tell authorities the time, location and caliber of guns that are fired, did not register a .45-caliber handgun being fired, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation said.

Last week, Clifton Coleman, 18, a friend of DeOnte’s, was charged with shooting a girl in the face. Authorities recovered two handguns from his closet, including a .45-caliber. Ballistic tests match the .45 to some of the shell casings at the scene of DeOnte’s Sept. 17 killing. But that ballistic match has not resolved the mystery of what happened on the night DeOnte died, said a source close to the investigation. Coleman has told authorities that DeOnte fired at least two shots at the off-duty officers. But no gun was recovered from the scene. And Coleman has not said what happened to the gun he claims DeOnte used, the source said.

The two officers, James Haskel and Anthony Clay, remain on administrative leave while investigators pore over evidence. The officers told authorities that someone stole a minibike from Haskel’s home, and the two friends went out looking for it in a sport utility vehicle. They saw DeOnte riding on the bike and got out of their car to confront him.

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Gunshots followed, and within minutes DeOnte lay dead with a single gunshot wound to the head. Both the minibike and DeOnte’s handgun were gone. The minibike was later recovered.

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

smccabe@dcexaminer.com