SOUTHWEST D.C. – Tragedy struck a DC community on Thursday as two people were killed and two others critically injured in a daylight shooting incident. The horror unfolded around 11:45 a.m., just a block away from Nationals Park, outside the Friendly Food Market at Half and O Streets Southwest.
According to DC Police Chief Pamela Smith, initial findings suggest that a group had gathered in front of the corner store when an individual drove up and started firing shots. The exact relationship between the shooter and the victims, if any, is yet to be clarified.
One local resident described the chilling moment, recounting hearing what sounded like “30 rounds” of gunfire echoing in the typically quiet neighborhood, transforming it into what another likened to “a combat zone.”
Details shared by DC Police reveal that the assailant was driving a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, firing from within the vehicle before driving off.
Authorities promptly released a photo of the suspect’s 2015 model SUV, equipped with a sunroof, white rims, and tinted windows, bearing Maryland license plates 2FD-0820. The vehicle was reported carjacked from Kansas and Blair Streets the previous day.
Thursday’s victims included a female neighbor, a mother of two, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and a man who succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. The remaining two victims, adult males, are in critical condition.
Neither gang affiliations nor recent violent crimes have tainted the area over the past 30 days, raising concerns about the sudden and brutal attack in an otherwise peaceful community.