Protesters angry about a decision to drop all charges in the death outside DC9 carried a poster depicting a bloody crosswalk, but authorities say the blood did not belong to Ali Ahmed Mohammed. (Photo: TBD Staff)

Images published on TBD.com and on the Washington Post's website that purported to show a bloody crosswalk in the vicinity of the DC9 nightclub do not depict the blood of Ali Ahmed Mohammed, according to authorities with knowledge of the case.

The photographs first surfaced on Oct. 15, when reporters descended on the scene near 9th and U streets NW. Mohammed died early that morning following an altercation with five men who worked at the bar. The men were accused of chasing, tackling and beating Mohammed after he allegedly threw one or two bricks through the front window of the bar. Charges of aggravated assault in the case have since been dropped, though the investigation is ongoing, and charges could be re-filed at a later date.

The incident between Mohammed and the five men who were initially arrested, Bill Spieler, Evan Preller, Arthur Zaloga, Reginald Phillips, and Darryl Carter, took place on a sidewalk on 9th Street NW, north of U Street, while the images depict a bloody crosswalk on the south side of U Street, authorities say. In other words, the bloody scene was not the same location where Mohammed was allegedly tackled and restrained by the DC9 employees.

On Monday, more than 100 people gathered to march down Pennsylvania Avenue in protest over U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen's decision to drop all charges in the case. At least one protester carried a sign of the bloody crosswalk photograph published by the Post, along with the message, "Whose blood is this?"

In a statement on Friday, Machen explained that prosecutors did not currently have enough evidence to proceed at this time, but that charges could be re-filed once an autopsy report or other evidence becomes available in the case.

Authorities have not said whose blood they think it is — and some law enforcement officials have questioned whether they can be sure the red splotches observed on the crosswalk are blood at all — but one theory goes back to another incident that occurred at DC9 earlier that night. Court records describe 21-year-old Georgio Tuccio of Valhalla, N.Y., who is currently facing a charge of destruction of property for allegedly breaking another window at the bar an hour or so before the incident with Mohammed occurred, as having been "bleeding from the arm" at the time that police and EMTs arrived on the scene.

Tuccio was transported to Howard University Hospital shortly after 1:30 a.m. that morning due to the injury he sustained from allegedly punching out the window, according to a police affidavit. The incident involving Mohammed is reported to have started approximately one hour later, around 2:30 a.m.