DC shooting: Gunfire near Juneteenth concert kills 15-year-old, wounds 3 others, including officer

A number of hundred folks had gathered to listen to music performed from a truck on a avenue sidewalk, DC Police Chief Robert Contee instructed reporters.

Earlier than the lethal melee, he mentioned, two different incidents had already prompted panic and trampling on the live performance, CNN reported.

Officers responded and contained the world, finally shutting down the live performance, Contee mentioned. He didn’t present particulars of the incident however mentioned “folks began to scatter at that time.”

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A number of folks suffered leg or ankle accidents as the gang dispersed, the police chief mentioned. He mentioned emergency personnel recovered an unlawful firearm from one particular person as they tended to the injured.

Afterward, gunfire broke out close to 14th and U Streets Northwest, near the live performance web site. The 15-year-old boy was killed, and three adults have been wounded, together with a police officer, Contee mentioned.

The officer and two adults have been hospitalized in secure situation, he famous.

A number of firearms have been found from the scene, together with a handgun on one of many adults who was shot, Contee mentioned. However he mentioned the weapon used to shoot the officer has not but been discovered.

No police officer discharged their firearm, he added.

Extra mass shootings than days of the yr

The US has suffered a minimum of 277 mass shootings to this point this yr, based on the Gun Violence Archive. That is a median of greater than 1.5 mass shootings day by day.

The GVA defines mass shootings as those who kill or wound a minimum of 4 folks.

Current mass shootings just like the Buffalo grocery store assault and the Uvalde college bloodbath have renewed debates about gun management. In each of these massacres, the alleged gunman was 18 years outdated and used an AR-15-style rifle.

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced an settlement in precept for gun security laws which might tackle psychological well being assets and college security.

However sticking factors stay, together with the problems of funding for state pink flag legal guidelines and denying firearms to single companions convicted of home violence.

Officers vow to crack down on unpermitted occasions

Each the DC mayor and police chief mentioned allow necessities should be taken severely.

“We have now a baby who was killed as we speak at an occasion that didn’t have any correct planning for the quantity of people that have been right here and with weapons concerned,” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser instructed reporters Sunday.

“The chief and I’ll proceed to ensure we’ve the assets we’d like on these corridors and all of our corridors, however we’d like some accountability right here.”

The police chief mentioned officers will “take a look at what authorized motion ought to be taken on account of an unpermitted occasion in our metropolis.”

“When you have got massive gatherings in a dense space, all it takes is one particular person introducing a gun to the scenario that makes it lethal,” Contee mentioned. “On this case, sadly, a 15-year-old misplaced his life.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is helping native police with the investigation, the company’s Washington Area Division mentioned.

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