Police are investigating a shooting that took place in Southeast DC on Tuesday afternoon, leaving a nine-year-old boy and an adult injured.
The DC Police Department tweeted about the incident and mentioned that the shots were heard along Morris Road around 4:45 pm. Officers disclosed that the shooting resulted from a disagreement between two nine-year-old children.
Assistant Chief Wright provides an update to the shooting that occurred in 1500 block of Morris Road. SE. https://t.co/u17HiHhXQv
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) September 21, 2021
WUSA 9 reported that the adult, who was taken to the hospital by US Park Police helicopter, is in critical condition, while the nine-year-old is expected to be fine after being grazed by a bullet.
‘Targeted’ and ‘Unacceptable’
Assistant Chief of the DC Police Department Andre Wright outlined the incident at a press conference on Tuesday evening.
“We believe the shooting is connected to the altercation between the male and female nine-year-olds. We believe the adult was shot very specific to this altercation. We do believe this is a targeted shooting,” Wright said.
But Wright couldn’t reason how an altercation between young children would lead to such a violent conclusion.
“This is unacceptable. It’s really outrageous. I can’t think of any topic where two nine-year-olds have a disagreement and a gun would be introduced by anyone,” he said at the conference.
DC Shootings
This incident happened less than 12 hours after five people, including a 13-year-old boy, were injured in another DC shooting. Police have released photos of the suspect and are seeking the public’s help to identify the assailant.
While there is no apparent connection between the shootings, Wright commented about the increasing violence unfolding in the district.
“Where do we stop? We have a 13-year-old and we have a nine-year-old [injured]. We’ve got to do better,” he said.