A National Guard member was shot in the leg while trying to break up a fight in south-east Washington, DC, with police saying the suspected gunman was also wounded in an exchange of fire.
The incident happened at about 11.10pm on Sunday, October 18, in the 400 block of 8th Street SE, near a fire and emergency medical services station. Both the Guardsman and the suspect are expected to survive, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Interim police chief Jeffrey Carroll said seven or eight National Guard members were travelling in a van when they saw a fight involving several people on the street. The group got out to intervene, at which point one of those involved allegedly produced a gun and began firing.
The Guardsmen ordered the man to drop the weapon, police said, but he pointed it towards them. Three members of the Guard then returned fire, striking the suspect in the abdomen. Police said it was not immediately clear which Guardsman fired the shot that hit him.
The injured serviceman was taken to hospital and later released, while the suspect was also treated for non-life-threatening injuries and placed under arrest, according to police.
Both men were brought into the nearby fire station, where firefighters called police. The department’s Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the shooting.
Police said there was no continuing threat to the public. Investigators believe the original altercation may have started inside a nearby establishment and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
