Two shootings early Thursday that left a man dead in Southeast and a woman wounded in Northwest capped a bloody 24 hours in which the Metropolitan Police Department reported a total of seven instances of gunfire, including two triple shootings that erupted within an hour of each other Wednesday.
A total of two people were slain and nine others wounded, but no arrests have been made.
Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith expressed frustration Wednesday night over the carnage that was mounting, as she surveyed the scene of the second triple shooting.
“Both incidents tonight [are] again senseless violence that continues to happen in our community,” Chief Smith said at the scene of the shooting. “This is completely unacceptable, and our detectives are doing everything that we can to bring these folks to justice.”
The outbreak in gunfire comes amid police data showing violent crime is down 34% this year in the District, with homicides falling 23%, robberies 39% and carjackings 48%. On Tuesday, the MPD issued a notice saying violent crime is 12% lower than in 2019 before the city experienced a multiyear crime wave that peaked last year with the District’s most homicides since the late 1990s.
On Wednesday, police were looking into whether a silver Jeep Cherokee is connected to the pair of triple shootings in which one man was wounded and five others wounded. The vehicle was spotted near both scenes when bullets flew.
Chief Smith said the first triple shooting occurred around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on the 300 block of 37th Place SE.
Officers found two men suffering gunshot wounds, and a third took himself to a hospital shortly afterward. All three are expected to survive.
Roughly 45 minutes later on the 600 block of O Street NW, officers responded to another shooting where two men were wounded in a 22-round barrage of gunfire.
Chief Smith said one of the men died at a hospital and the other was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
A third man showed up at a hospital with gunshot wounds after the shooting, police said. He is expected to survive.
Authorities said a man was gunned down around 1:45 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Atlantic and First streets in Southeast. Police pronounced him dead at the scene.
A woman was wounded in a shooting 15 minutes later on the 1400 block of Park Road NW. She is expected to survive. Police said they’re looking for a Black man with dreadlocks who was last seen wearing a white shirt.
Multiple gunmen hopped out of a car just before 7 p.m. Wednesday and cornered a driver on the 1800 block of Marion Barry Avenue SE, police said. The driver sped off and struck one suspect while trying to escape. The other gunmen unloaded 10 rounds on the male victim’s car and left the driver with a bullet wound to the neck.
Police said the driver crashed a block away. Two women in the victim’s car jumped out, and the gunmen ran off.
The man was taken to a hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities said the victim’s car had been reported stolen this month from Greenbelt.
MPD said a woman took a bullet to the leg in the Bellevue neighborhood around midday Wednesday.
A man called 911 about the woman trying to kick in his apartment door on Joliet Street SW, according to police. A separate 911 call was made soon after about someone hearing gunshots.
Police said officers were flagged down by the woman, who had a bullet wound to her knee. The man was no longer at the apartment.
Authorities said the man and the woman know each other. The woman is expected to survive.
Just before 4 a.m. Wednesday, a man sitting on a park bench was hit in the chest by an apparent stray bullet on the 500 block of Newcomb Street SE, police said.
Police said they found no shell casings or property damage in the area. The man was conscious and breathing when officers arrived and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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