Officials investigate after 9 people shot, 3 killed in southeastern DC drive-by; 3 arrests

DC officials investigate after 9 shot, 3 dead

WASHINGTON — A drive-by shooting killed three people and wounded six others in the nation’s capital and three were arrested, officials said.

A gunman sprayed bullets “into a crowd” Tuesday night, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.

The shootings of six men and three women happened around 7:30 p.m. around the 4000 block of South Capitol Street in the southeastern part of the city, said D.C. Police Department spokesman Officer Hugh Carew. Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer says all were in their 20s and 30s, except for one teenager.

One victim died at the scene, one was dead on arrival at the hospital, and the third died in the operating room, said Carolyn Hammond, spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Center. She said a fourth person was in critical condition late Tuesday.

Three people were arrested and a weapon was recovered, according to police who said they had no motive. The Washington Post reported that police pursued a van from the scene, aided by a helicopter.

Four D.C. officers were slightly injured while chasing a suspect’s vehicle into neighboring Prince George’s County in Maryland, authorities said.

The neighborhood is near a water treatment plant and Bolling Air Force Base. Sections of southeastern D.C. have problems with crime, though surprised neighbors told local media that the area was not a bad place to live and wasn’t dangerous.

Washington reported 143 homicides last year, the fewest in nearly 50 years.