A Washington, D.C. police officer is said to be “fighting for her life” after being wounded early Sunday during a shootout that killed a teenager and injured at least 20 others, Police Chief Peter Newsham said at a press conference.
Police responded to reports of shots fired just before 1 a.m. at a large gathering in a residential neighborhood in southeast Washington.
Newsham says 20 people were wounded at the scene. At least 11 of the victims are female.
Additionally, 17-year-old Christopher “Poppy” Brown was shot and pronounced dead at a hospital.
An off-duty DC Metro police officer was also shot and is “struggling for her life right now,” Newsham told reporters, while standing next to Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The rest of the victims have non-life-threatening injuries. Some of them walked to a nearby fire station and hospital after being grazed by bullets.
Shooting: 3300 b/o Dubois Place, SE. No lookout.
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) August 9, 2020
Several social media posts had advertised the annual “34th-n-EAT” block party to be held in the area on Saturday night.
According to Newsham, a dispute broke out at the gathering and several people took out weapons and exchanged gunfire.
More than 20 units from D.C. Fire and EMS, responded to the scene.
The street was also littered with bullet casings, in addition to car keys and other belongings left behind by people who were fleeing the gunfire.
No arrests have been made, as police remained at the scene and continued to investigate Sunday morning.
The mayor said the gathering was illegal on a number of levels.
“It is illegal to drink on the street in the District of Columbia; it is illegal to smoke marijuana on the street in the District of Columbia. It is illegal to be in a gathering of more than 50 – all of those things are not good,” she said.
“And, sadly, when you put illegal guns in the hands of people willing to use them, it means some person could lose her life or some people could lose their lives. As a community, it’s really important that we have zero tolerance for this type of activity; that we support the Metropolitan Police Department … and that may mean that people will have to go to jail,” Bowser added.