At least 1 dead, 3 injured in shooting outside D.C. funeral home
At least one person has been confirmed dead and three others are wounded after multiple shots were fired outside of a funeral home in northeastern Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, authorities said.
Investigators still collecting evidence from the scene at around 2 p.m. ET had yet to identify a suspect in connection with the mass shooting, which happened roughly two hours earlier, Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters during a news conference. Police have not ruled out the possibility of multiple shooters, Contee said.
The shooting occurred on a sidewalk outside of Stewart Funeral Home, where the police chief said "people were milling about" in the minutes following a funeral service that had taken place there Tuesday morning. Preliminary evidence suggested that the perpetrator or perpetrators appeared to target the four individuals who were shot, Contee said, though police have not yet determined a potential motive for the crime.
Authorities initially responded to the shooting when an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, who was stationed in a police vehicle near the site of the funeral service, heard gunfire, Contee said. The service was held for a homicide victim who was killed in the area at the end of March and whose case has not been solved, according to the police chief. Families of victims of unsolved homicides can request that an officer is stationed at the victim's funeral service, and Contee said that doing so is "routine."
The person who was fatally shot outside of the funeral home was identified as an adult man by the police chief. He did not share any identifying details about the three others who were shot and wounded, but described their injuries as "serious" albeit not life-threatening. All three people wounded were taken to local hospitals for treatment, Contee said.
"MPD is asking for the community's help," the police chief said.
The department has requested that anyone with information about the assailant or assailants involved in Tuesday's shooting report what they know to police, which can be done anonymously via text or over the phone. The police department is currently working to identify any witnesses who may have been present during the shooting.
