A 17-year-old was killed and an off-duty D.C. police officer was fighting for her life after authorities said at least 20 people were shot when a dispute broke out early Sunday at a cookout attended by hundreds of people in Southeast Washington.
D.C. police said at least three shooters opened fire from different locations around 12:30 a.m., on Dubois Place in the Greenway neighborhood, sending panicked partygoers racing for cover and others screaming for friends and relatives.
The dead teenager was identified as Christopher Brown.
“I really don’t understand how my child’s life is just gone,” said the victim’s mother, Artecka Brown, 33. She said she last spoke to her son two days ago when she hugged him and told him “I love you.”
The unidentified off-duty police officer, who apparently was at the party, was critically injured and was “fighting for her life,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. Officials said the officer, who is 22 years old and has been on the force about one year, was struck in the neck.
Authorities said there was a dispute before shots were fired, and police said they believe there were exchanges of gunfire. At least 11 of the victims were women. Police initially said 21 people had been shot, but later determined one of the injured victims had not been struck by a bullet.
Videos posted on social media show revelers partying shoulder-to-shoulder near Dubois and 34th streets. After the shots, some victims fell while others scattered; the crime scene sprawled for blocks, with police marking 170 pieces of evidence. Police said nearly 100 bullets were fired.
The party and the tragedy that ensued revived questions about large gatherings that flout Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s order that prohibits gatherings larger than 50 people and requires those older than 2 to wear a mask when they leave the house and are likely to come into contact with others. The mask requirement, one of the strictest in the nation, was toughened recently after cases began to spike.
The Bowser (D) administration has thus far emphasized voluntary compliance over enforcement through arrests and fines, though the mayor indicated Sunday that police might now take a tougher stand.
Newsham said police had been aware of the party through an online advertisement for the event and were monitoring it. He said officers called in additional help as the crowd grew, but apparently did not intervene. He also said they did not believe they had enough officers to break up the gathering.
“I’m concerned that the event wasn’t broken up,” Newsham said in an interview, adding that he is reviewing the response from the 6th District. He said it appears officers were present when the shooting occurred.
A Wilson Building official said the administration was exploring whether to penalize the promoters of the block party, who advertised the event on Instagram. The organizers could not be reached for comment; they did not return a message left on Instagram.
Police continue to investigate weekend shooting that wounded 8, killed one in Columbia Heights
Authorities Sunday were hard-pressed to recall another time when so many people were shot in a single incident.
More than 115 people have been slain in the District this year, a 17 percent increase over this time in 2019, which ended the year with a decade high. Those killed include an 11-year-old boy shot at a stop-the-violence cookout on the Fourth of July and a 71-year-old shot while protecting her granddaughter.
Sad incident, unnecessary loss of life.