Police engaged three men and two woman in a firefight behind an elementary school Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., and arrested all five individuals without injuries.
Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) responded to a report of gun shots coming from behind Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and Rehoboth Baptist Church. When police arrived on scene the suspects shot at the officers from inside an SUV. Officers returned fire and ordered the individuals to come out of the car, reports WJLA.
The five suspects ignored the commands and barricaded themselves in the SUV for roughly 30 minutes before surrendering to authorities. No one suffered injuries during the gun fight.
An electronic system installed around the city called ShotSpotter initially alerted police to the gunshots, however it remains unclear why the five individuals were shooting their weapons. The MPD is investigating whether the suspects committed an additional crime prior to the officers arriving, reports WTOP.
“We do not have information that this was a planned attack on police,” MPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told WTOP.
D.C. is suffering a violent year, with more than 67 confirmed homicides across the city. The District experienced a staggering 53 percent spike in the murder rate in 2015, the highest rate in eight years. The alarming spike in homicides is spilling into 2016, tracking closely with last year’s figures.
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