White House staffer Barvetta Singletary arrested, charged with firing gun at cop
White House staffer fires Glock handgun at her boyfriend, a Capitol Police officer. She was charged with Felony Assault and Reckless Endangerment. Her name is Barvetta Singletary, 37. She has been placed on unpaid leave pending further investigation.
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(Updated) Barvetta Singletary, 37, employed on the White House staff as the special assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama, was released from jail on August 10 after being charged with felony assault and reckless endangerment after allegedly grabbing a gun from a Capitol Hill police officer following a booty call with the cop early on Friday morning. The cop dialed 911 after Singletary fired the weapon in his direction following a sexual encounter between the two on Friday, according to CNN.
In addition to being the special assistant to the president, Singletary also served as the House legislative affairs liaison and was earning $125,000 annually. She was placed on unpaid leave and her access to the White House revoked following her arrest.
Fox News reported that the incident began early Friday morning with Singletary texting her unidentified boyfriend who serves with the Capitol Hill police and inviting him to her Upper Marlboro, Maryland, home to have sex. Charging documents stated that the text message was an invitation to the man to come over for sexual intercourse.
Following their sexual encounter, Singletary started asking her boyfriend about other women he was dating. According to the arrest report, she grabbed his cellphones and began demanding the passwords for them. She also grabbed his service weapon.
When the boyfriend refused to divulge the passwords to his phones, police say she fired a shot from his gun in his direction. Police said that Singletary “fired one round into the sofa where the victim was sitting,” according to NBC in Washington. Fox quoted Singletary as saying "You taught me how to use this. Don't think I won't use it."
Following the alleged shooting, Singletary then wiped her fingerprints from the gun with a towel, according to the police report. The boyfriend then ran from the scene and called 911. The former special assistant to the president was arrested at the scene without incident. Her arrest has been classified as adomestic violence incident.
Singletary was released from the Prince George's County Jail yesterday after posting a $75,000 bond. The Prince George’s County Police Department as well as the U.S. Capitol Police are still investigating the alleged shooting. A spokesperson from the White House said that additional actions against Singletary would be taken as needed as they receive more information on the incident.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to the officer’s Glock service weapon as a revolver. According to charging documents and Glock.com, the service weapon would more appropriately be referred to as a .40-caliber Glock 23 pistol.
