At least one man died and eight others were wounded Sunday in Washington, D.C. after three men opened fire on a busy street in the city’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, police said.
Nine victims—eight men and one woman—were rushed to local hospitals following the incident just before 5 p.m. on 14th Street and Spring Road, Police Chief Peter Newsham said during a press briefing at the scene.
One of the victims was later pronounced dead. As of Sunday evening, two others were in serious condition, Newsham said, noting that the remaining five shooting victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
“This type of brazen daylight activity in a very, very busy block I’m sure was scary for this community,” Newsham said. “They are putting everyone in this community in jeopardy.”
7.19.20 Chief Newsham provides update regarding shooting that occurred at 14th Street & Spring Road, NW. thank https://t.co/CiP0gU1uZV
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 19, 2020
He said police are searching for three black male suspects in what is believed to be a targeted attack. Two of the men were heavily armed with “long guns,” while the other had a pistol, Newsham said.
The three men “came out of a vehicle” and “ran down the block” before opening fire on a group of people, he continued.
“Shooting Investigation at the intersection of 14th Street NW and Spring Road NW. L/O for 3 B/Ms, 2 wearing all black with black hoodies and 1 wearing a grey hoodie,” the D.C. Police Department said on Twitter. “Last seen in a dark blue or black vehicle with tinted windows going N/B 14th St NW. DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911.”
Shooting Investigation at the intersection of 14th Street NW and Spring Road NW.
L/O for 3 B/Ms, 2 wearing all black with black hoodies and 1 wearing a grey hoodie. Last seen in a dark blue or black vehicle with tinted windows going N/B 14th St NW.
DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 19, 2020
Newsham said it appeared multiple victims were targeted in the attack, which appeared to stem from a “crew dispute.” He said some of the victims were known to law enforcement.
“We’re familiar with some of the players,” he added.
The Epoch Times contacted the Metropolitan Police Department for comment, but did not hear back prior to publication.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s absolutely ridiculous that anyone would do that in broad daylight,” Newsham said, recalling the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Davon McNeal in Southeast D.C. over the July 4 weekend.
“We can’t have that. Innocent people could get killed,” he continued. “You start shooting like this, there’s high potential that somebody else could get hit and very seriously hurt.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser told reporters at the scene that investigators were working hard to “bring people to justice.”
The shooting comes amid a recent surge in violence across major U.S. cities.
“I think it’s shocking,” Bowser said. “Everybody should be outraged that in the daytime when people are frequenting our restaurants, frequenting our businesses, that there could be an attack.”
According to police figures, Washington has seen 103 homicides so far this year—some 23 percent higher than the city’s homicide total at this time in 2019.
Newsham last week called the D.C. murder rate at this point in the year “disturbing.”
“I think we’ve talked about the increase in gun violence in our city for the last three years,” Newsham said during a news conference on July 13. “It’s really kind of troubling because if you look at violent crime in our city, every other category of violent crime, we’ve had significant progress in reducing those numbers across the city, and it’s the gun violence that’s the challenge I think we all need to tackle.”
“We don’t have a magic wand to stop this, but we definitely need to think about what we’re doing right now, because it’s not working,” Newsham added.
The police chief urged anyone with information connected to Sunday’s shooting incident to contact the D.C. police department on (202) 727-9099.
