One Killed, 3 Injured (Including One Officer) at D.C. Juneteenth Event

A 15-year-old boy was killed and three people, including a D.C. police officer, were shot Sunday in the area of 14th and U streets in Northwest, authorities said.

The search for the shooter or shooters continued Monday morning. The name of the shooting victim was not immediately released.

The shooting appeared to break out after two separate incidents, following what D.C. Chief of Police Robert Contee called an “unpermitted event” held by the group Moechella at around 6 p.m. They had promoted a Juneteenth event celebrating D.C. go-go music.

At one point, there was some type of “incident or fight” among the crowd that was broken up, authorities said. Then, after a “secondary incident,” people started to flee, and some had their legs and ankles “trampled.”

Cell phone video taken from above the scene shows dozens of members of the crowd running west along U Street NW. After about 10 seconds, the rush slowed and officials were seen standing in the intersection.

While officers shut down the event and paramedics treated victims who suffered injuries running away, the gunfire that would claim the life of a teen and injure three others erupted.

The two adults and the officer, who was shot in the lower extremity, are recovering at a hospital, Contee said.

Police recovered several firearms throughout the night. One belonged to a victim, but officers did not find the suspect’s gun.

The victims are stable, but the extent of their injuries is not known. A potential motive for the gunfire or either of the incidents before it was not revealed.

A police helicopter hovered above the area at about 11 p.m. as officers searched for a shooter or shooters.

“We have a child who was killed today at an event that did not have any proper planning for the number of people who were here and with guns involved. And with our police managing a crowd, on sight, somebody used a gun. And a child is dead,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

Contee said the police department would look into whether “legal action” should be taken against the organizers of the unpermitted event.

Yaddiya, a Moechella organizer, shared a statement signed by the Long Live GoGo team, reading in part: “As we continue to cultivate a platform to uplift the culture of Washington [D.C.], we don’t condone violence of any sort.”

“Moechella is a symbol of [B]lack culture in [D.C.] and is built on a foundation of peace. Please keep this in mind moving forward as occurrences of such will not be tolerated and will result in us being stripped of the opportunity to activate our platform,” the statement continued.

The original “Moechella” events in spring 2019 sprung out of a movement to celebrate Go-Go music and protest gentrification in the 14^th and U Street NW area.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.