Aug. 9 (UPI) — At least one person died and one other was critically injured after 21 people were shot at a large gathering in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
Police Chief Peter Newsham said 17-year-old Christopher Brown was killed in the shooting and an unidentified off-duty police officer who appeared to have been attending the party was injured and is “fighting for her life.”
Police said multiple shooters opened fire from different locations at about 12:30 a.m. and about 170 bullet casings were found at the scene.
Newsham said police are looking for at least three suspects, but added he believes “it’s probably more.”
Two of the victims were 17 years old and the rest were adults. Newsham said that the injuries to the other 19 victims are not believed to be life-threatening.
He added that no permit was issued for the gathering which was believed to have been attended by hundreds of people, as gatherings of more than 50 people are currently prohibited in Washington, D.C., due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s very important that as a community we have zero-tolerance for this activity,” Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
Bowser added that police will have to make “difficult decisions” and “break up these events.”
Newsham however said that although officers responded to the scene, they were unable to break up the gathering.
“There were not sufficient officers to be able to move a crowd of that size,” said Newsham.
