Washington, D.C. (September 21, 2021) – D.C. police are looking for a gunman who opened fire this morning on a crowd of people at a strip mall in SE, injuring five people, including a youth.

The gunfire erupted just after 8:30am in the 2300 block of Alabama Avenue.  Police Chief Robert Contee  had only a vague description of the gunman saying he was on foot wearing jeans, a hoodie, and gray sneakers.  He called on the community to help.

The victims’ identifies have not been released.  Chief Contee says those shot included a 13-year-old boy and two women.

Police do not have a motive for the shooting.  “We don’t know what this is about.  What I do know is that it’s unacceptable.  It’s unacceptable in the District of Columbia for somebody to brazenly shoot into a crowd of people and five people be struck at 8:30 in the morning,” said Contee.

The violence has once again unnerved residents who have seen a sharp increase in the number of homicides in the city. “We should all be sick and tired of this.  We have to hold people accountable when they commit crimes like this, added Contee.

Today’s shooting happened just blocks from the 7th District police station and not far from Garfield Elementary School.  Chief Contee says the victims’ injuries range from non-life threatening to serious.