A 15-year-old boy was killed and three others were injured, including a D.C. police officer, in a shooting at an unregulated Juneteenth event at 14th and U Streets in Northwest on Sunday evening, according to police.
According to Police Chief Robert J. Contee III, social media had promoted a free music event known as Moechella, and several hundred people had gathered in the area around 6 p.m. The music event lacked a permit.
According to him, police arrived to assist the mass of people, and people stayed mostly on the sidewalks as music played from a truck.
An “incident or fight” broke out around 6 p.m., causing people to scatter before officers closed down the event, according to Contee. In the meantime, he said, weapons were discovered in the prohibited event area.
The shooting started as first responders attempted to assist attendees who had been injured while fleeing the event. He stated that the incidents occurred between 6 and 8:30 p.m.
According to Contee, a pistol was retrieved from one of the victims but not the firearm presumed to have lead to the deaths and injuries. He claimed that no officers fired their weapons and that no gunfire was exchanged.
The police chief said officials will speak with event organizers and consider legal action because the event is unpermitted.
“We will certainly want to make sure that people are held accountable when they hold unpermitted events in our city,” he said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser offered deepest sympathies to the child’s family and expressed concerns about crowd control at unpermitted events and guns in crowded public areas.
We need some accountability here,” Bowser told reporters.
Two other adults were hospitalized, and more guns were found nearby. All were in “stable condition,” including the D.C. officer.
Police are currently seeking a suspect. Contee told reporters that officers didn’t shoot the suspect.
