1 killed, 20 injured in Washington shooting

As per the authorities, at least three shooters opened fire during a large, unauthorized gathering of people in Washington early on Sunday, killing a teenager and wounding 20 others, including a critically injured police officer.

D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference that the gunfire burst during a gathering of hundreds of people in a southeast district of the nation’s capital.

Local media called the event an “unsanctioned block party” in a residential neighbourhood. Bowser said it violated the city’s coronavirus-induced ban on large public meetings of more than 50 people.

Newsham said, “There were certainly was too many people out there, you know, with the Covid-19."

He also said that “We can’t tolerate these types of gatherings in our city during Covid-19. It’s just too dangerous."

Killed was Christopher Brown, 17, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Newsham added.

“I really don’t understand how my child’s life is just gone,” his mother Artecka Brown told.

Most of the victims were adults and, aside from the police officer, none of the injuries was considered life-threatening, Newsham added.

Bowser, wearing a face mask like Newsham, noted that people cooped up at home, as advised by medical experts to stop disease spread during the coronavirus pandemic, were starting to break rules, like those limiting the size of gatherings to allow for social distancing.

Bowser said , “There are cookouts that have happened peacefully for years and years that are just spinning out of control."

Newsham said police had tried to break up the gathering but apparently lacked the manpower to do so.

“It doesn’t sound like we had enough officers to disperse the crowd,” he added.

No details were immediately available on the suspected shooters. Multiple weapons, including handguns, were confiscated from the scene, Newsham said.