Capitol Hill. Photo: Shutterstock A National Guard member and a suspected gunman were wounded in a shooting in Washington, D.C., late Sunday, October 18, after Guard members intervened in a fight in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, police said.
Both sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening and were expected to survive, Metropolitan Police Department interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said at a news conference early Monday. The suspect was hospitalized in custody.
The shooting occurred at around 11:10 p.m. in the 400 block of 8th Street SE, near Eastern Market. According to Carroll, about seven or eight National Guard members were sitting in a van when they noticed a fight on the sidewalk and got out to intervene.
One of the people involved in the altercation then pulled out a firearm and opened fire, Carroll said.
The National Guard members told the individual to drop the firearm. He discharged a round at the National Guard members, who returned fire at that suspect, the interim chief said.
The confrontation moved from the sidewalk near an alley entrance into the alley, where the suspect fired again at Guard members. Three Guard members discharged their weapons, although investigators had not determined which member’s gunfire struck the suspect.
The National Guard member was shot in the leg, while the suspect sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Both were transported to hospitals for treatment.
Following the exchange of gunfire, Guard members began providing medical assistance. D.C. Fire and EMS personnel from a nearby firehouse also responded quickly, Carroll said.
Preliminary information suggests the fight involved people who had been inside a nearby establishment earlier in the evening. Authorities have not established what triggered the altercation.
Police said they were not looking for another suspected shooter but wanted to speak with people involved in the fight and witnesses who left the scene after the shooting.
"We know the individual that we have in custody is the one who was involved in the actual shooting," Caroll explained.
No specific charges against the suspect were announced at the news conference.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigations Division are investigating the incident. Carroll said there was no further threat to the community.