3 killed, 3 wounded in shooting incident in US capital

Police in the US capital of Washington DC said Saturday that three people were killed and another three injured in a shooting incident that occurred earlier in the evening.

DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said the shooting erupted in 600 block of Longfellow Street NW around 7:30pm local time (0230 GTM Sunday).

A total of six people were shot and rushed to local hospitals, with three pronounced dead and three others being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

DC Police Chief Robert Contee said the suspects exited a vehicle and fired shots down the block, into a crowd of individuals hanging out there. He said at least some people in the crowd apparently were targeted, but the reason remained unknown.

The three killed appeared to be young adults, Contee said, adding police recovered a weapon on the scene and were investigating if it had any role in the gunfire.

The triple slaying has brought the number of homicide victims in DC so far this year to a staggering 144, in comparison with 124 between January 1 and September 3 of 2020, according to statistics from the MPD.

With the suspects still at large and the manhunt underway, police are offering up to US$75,000 to anyone able to provide information on the suspects' whereabouts.

The shooting was in a neighborhood where residents last year expressed concern about what they described as an increase in gun violence, local media reported.