DC police say possible scooter argument preceded shooting

Washington, D.C., police said that an argument over a scooter led to a shooting that critically injured a woman and a child Tuesday. 

Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said that police responded to a call around 6:53 p.m. concerning a shooting that happened in Northwest D.C. Contee said there were two victims, an adult woman and a child suffering from gunshot wounds. 

Chief Contee provides an update to the shooting that occurred in the 1500 block of 10th Street, Northwest. https://t.co/iSbJJmP8oR

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) May 18, 2021

Asked by reporters, he said that a dispute over a scooter being parked on 10th and P streets NW happened between the victims and the suspect, who was described as a Black man wearing a ski mask. According to Contee, the suspect took out a handgun and shot the victims before fleeing from the scene. 

D.C. police chief says argument over where scooter was parked at 10th and P streets NW led to a man shooting at a family, striking woman and child, critically injuring both. Chief said man shot an “innocent family.” Says: “The Metropolitan Police Department is coming for you.”

— Peter Hermann (@phscoop) May 18, 2021

The woman and child were taken to a nearby hospital where they are in critical condition and undergoing treatment for their injuries. 

“The Metropolitan Police is coming for him, he should be ashamed of himself for what he did to this family tonight,” Contee told reporters. “And he has to be held accountable for his actions. The community demands it, I demand it, he has to be held accountable for his actions, that’s unacceptable.” 

“We’re devastated,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser added, standing next to Contee. “This family is devastated and we know that gun crime, firearms in the hands of somebody willing to use it over nothing is something that our police force is fighting against every single day and we need the whole community to fight against that as well.”