WASHINGTON - An off-duty MPD detective shot a man who attacked him in the Adams Morgan neighborhood Tuesday, investigators said.

The detective got out of his car to open a garage in the 1600 block of Kalorama Road NW about 11:50 a.m. when he was attacked, police said.

The 20-year veteran was apparently struck in the head from behind and suffered a head injury.

The detective was beaten almost to the point of unconsciousness, police said. During the struggle, the detective shot the man, striking him once in the abdomen, police said.

"They were standing on the side of the car and fighting," said one witness who didn't want to be identified. "Then they went down on the ground and I heard, 'bam'"

"The only thing that I really heard was the one guy said, 'I've been shot', and the other guy said, 'I'm the police,'" the witness said.

The assailant, whom police described as "deranged," was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive. As of 7 p.m., police had not identified him, according to a statement.

Investigators say they have not established a motive for the attack. Sources tell ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 they are looking into whether it was a robbery attempt.

"Right now we are trying to sort out whether he was targeted for a robbery, or targeted for some other reason, or this was a random attack -- but a pretty brutal attack," Police Chief Cathy Lanier (web | news | bio) said.

The assailant, who was described as a heavyset Latino man, apparently tried to run from the scene but collapsed.

"He was conscious," said another witness. "He was just laying there, rolling over, you know. Kept on rolling around, moaning and rolling around in the snow."

The man faces aggravated assault charges.

Police did not identify the detective, who was taken to the hospital for testing. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released, police said.

He has been placed on routine administrative leave.

It was the second shooting involving an MPD officer in two days. On Monday, D.C. police shot and killed a stabbing suspect after some kind of altercation broke out between two people at home in Northeast and a man was stabbed.

 Email To Friend