On Wednesday, D.C. police said that a shooter continued to fire rounds from a home in Southeast D.C., wounding three police officers. Several sources claimed that a fourth officer suffered minor wounds.

Hours after police closed off several city blocks and put numerous schools on lockdown, the gunman is still holed up in the house and still firing at the cops. Children holding Valentine’s Day cards and decorations were observed being escorted into a school by police.

Police Department Chief Pamela A. Smith’s Statement On The Incident

Smith claims that the person who was allegedly shot has not yet been identified. Smith continued by saying that the Humane Society frequently receives assistance from D.C. police in executing arrest warrants for animal abuse.

Smith reported that many people were carrying guns on the streets, and she was aware that Secure D.C. was included in the legislation they were requesting their council members to approve.

Smith continued by saying that it was extremely difficult for those who were simply firing firearms—people who didn’t have the right to do so—to face the consequences. Smith clarified that she was requesting that they use every effort to approve Secure D.C., particularly the section requiring an increase in the penalties for carrying a firearm. 

Three cops suffered gunshot wounds that didn’t seem to be life-threatening, according to a statement from a police spokesperson. For treatment, all three have been sent to a nearby hospital. 

The spokeswoman continued by saying that a fourth cop had also been taken to a nearby hospital for minor wounds; this officer had not been shot.

In a post on X, the Metropolitan Police Department also stated that this was still an active incident and advised the public to avoid the area for their protection.

According to her, police negotiators are in “constant communication” with the suspect, who appears to be living alone in the house. According to Smith, they are unsure of the suspect’s identity and whether or not they reside in the locked house.

As police negotiate with the suspect, the Marshall Heights neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C., has been rendered virtually immobile by the closed roadways surrounding the incident, according to John Domen of WTOP, who was on the scene.

There was an overwhelming emergency presence, according to Domen, something he hadn’t seen in a while.

The incident occurred at a time when many other US cities have witnessed a reduction in violent crime over the past year, but Washington, DC, has seen a steep increase.

Police data indicates that there was a 35% increase in killings, a 67% increase in robberies, and an 82% increase in motor vehicle thefts in Washington, DC, between 2022 and 2023.

Smith refused to claim that crime in Washington, DC, was out of control during her news conference on Wednesday. She continued by saying that she believed they had a group of people who did not respect authority figures or the law.

She cried out that their officers were once again where they should have been, doing exactly what was required of them, and that’s what they will keep doing.

The chief of the police union demanded that more cops be employed.

According to D.C. Police Union Chairman Greggory Pemberton, they were short 500 officers, which prevented them from dispatching enough officers to these places to address these circumstances, putting everyone in danger—citizens as well as police officers.

Pemberton went on to say that this was a sad and terrible illustration of how the city council felt about police officers, and he did not think this would stop until the people stood up and pushed the council to act normally and change some of these rules.

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