Three police officers were shot and wounded Wednesday morning and the shooter has remained holed up inside a Southeast D.C. home for around seven hours, police said.
(WTOP/John Domen)
WTOP/John Domen
(AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren)
AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren
(AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren)
AP Photos/Nathan Ellgren
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A suspect is in custody Wednesday night after police said he shot and wounded three D.C. officers who were attempting to serve an arrest warrant and then holed up inside the home.
The standoff lasted around 13 hours and started when police approached a home on Hanna Place in Southeast D.C. around 7:30 a.m.
During an evening news conference, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said someone inside the home refused to come outside, then shot at officers through the door as they tried to enter the home.
The shooting sparked a massive police presence in the area, closing down several nearby streets and forcing some nearby schools into lockdowns.
How the barricade began
Smith said officers went to the residence to serve an arrest warrant on animal cruelty charges on behalf of the Humane Rescue Alliance around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when the suspect began shooting at them through the door.
“This morning, our officers attempted to make contact with the individual inside the residence in order to execute the arrest warrant,” Smith said. “The individual refused to come outside. As officers attempted to gain entry, the individual fired upon them.”
Three officers who were shot were taken to hospitals with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. A fourth officer was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Smith said.
Up and down negotiations, gunfire
The suspect seemed to be alone in the home and police negotiators were in “constant communication” with the shooter, though the conversations had ups and downs, the police chief said.
“There were moments when he was very agitated and then there were moments where he was very positive,” Smith said.
As negotiations drew on, gunfire continued hours after officers first showed up to the residence.
“There have been periods of time throughout the day where he has been shooting, which is why we have ensured that we do not want anyone in that area,” Smith said.
Smith added that they do not know the identity of the suspect or if he lives in the barricaded home. Police haven’t confirmed whether the person who they were attempting to serve the warrant to is the shooter.
How wounded officers are doing
The wounded officers were shot in their feet and hands and are expected to recover.
“Our officers are in good spirits, they seem to be doing OK,” Smith said during the earlier news conference after visiting the officers in the hospital.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also visited the injured officers.
“It goes to show you how important it is to support our police, to make sure we’re hiring the best of the best police, to make sure that as a community, that if we see something wrong, that we call MPD because MPD is going to show up for us every single time,” Bowser said during an event for Valentine’s Day.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden is praying that the officers make full recoveries.
“This shooting is yet another distressing and painful reminder of the toll gun violence is inflicting on families, on our communities and, obviously, on our nation,” Jean-Pierre said at a news conference.
Biden also called on Republicans in Congress to act to “to make sure that communities are safer.”
The Humane Rescue Alliance told WTOP that its Field Services Director Dan D’Eramo, who was on scene, was not injured. HRA wrote in a statement:
“As this dynamic situation unfolds, our thoughts are with our partners at MPD who are being treated in the hospital and we are wishing them all the best in their recovery. We could not fulfill our mission without them. We are also concerned for the safety of the officers who remain on scene, the community members who continue to be affected, and the animals whom we were there to protect.”
Neither police nor HRA have offered details about the alleged animal cruelty that prompted the arrest warrant.
Closed roads, school lockdowns
Police said Benning Road in Southeast D.C. is closed both ways between Southern Avenue and East Capital Street for police activity. G Street is also closed between 46th and 51st Street.
The 700 block of 51st Street between Hanna Place and H Street is closed. And the 5000 to 5100 blocks of Hanna Place are also shut down. Police are asking people to avoid the area as the closure points could change.
Listen to WTOP Traffic for the latest on the closures.
On Wednesday morning, WTOP’s John Domen reported from the scene that the road closures around the shooting were “basically paralyzing the entire Marshall Heights area of Southeast D.C.” as police negotiated with the suspect.
“There is just a massive emergency presence here, to the likes that I haven’t seen in a long time here,” Domen said.
D.C. Fire and EMS are also at the scene of the shooting to assist police.
Public schools in the area locked down within an hour of the initial shots being fired, including Garfield Elementary School and Plummer Elementary School. KIPP DC LEAP Academy dismissed students from class early.
This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP for the latest.
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Jessica Kronzer
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