WASHINGTON, D.C. — A shooting that wounded three people — including a police officer — and killed a 15-year-old juvenile took place Sunday evening on a street that is a popular party scene within the nation's capital.
Video taken by a bystander shows a chaotic scene as people ran in different directions and police moved in attempting to stop the shooting. At a press conference with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) a few hours after the shooting, Police Chief Robert Contee said the shooting occurred as police officers attempted to move people out of U Street after it was deemed unsafe due to several fights breaking out within the large crowd.
The police officer was shot in the leg but is in stable condition. Two other adults were shot and are also in stable condition. Contee noted that no D.C. police officer discharged their weapon during the incident.
#DCSHOOTING #MOECHELLA pic.twitter.com/FXWg2eWRjK
— Stanley E Wilson (@SEWINNOVATIVE) June 20, 2022
?? OFFICER DOWN: Please pray for the DC Police Officer and multiple victims who were shot tonight on U Street. Per @DCPoliceUnion, the officer has been transported to the hospital and is in stable condition.
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) June 20, 2022
This brazen violence MUST STOP! pic.twitter.com/4Rij1oZOm0
Contee added it is believed the firearm used in the incident was a handgun and guessed it was an "illegal" handgun, though officers had not recovered the gun at the time of the press conference. Officers had recovered a few other firearms from people, including from one of the individuals who was injured, before and after the shooting took place.
"We have a child who was killed today at an event that did not have any proper planning for the number of people who were here and with guns involved and with our police managing a crowd...somebody used a gun and a child is dead. The Chief and I will continue to make sure we have the resources we need...we need some accountability here," Bowser said.
In asking for "accountability," Bowser certainly doesn't mean for herself. More than one year ago, the Capital City's mayor announced another $59 million in funding to reduce gun violence, and she's thrown more money and restrictive policies at the problem that, predictably, haven't reduced gun violence or prevented chaos like that seen Sunday night. After rising 14 percent in 2021 from the previous year, homicides in D.C. are already up 13 percent in 2022 over the number of slayings at this point in 2021.