A police officer shot a man several times after he started firing a gun randomly on a busy street in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses say the suspect started shooting a firearm as he walked up Georgia Avenue by a grocery store in Petworth. An officer nearby approached the suspect and shot him multiple times after the man did not drop the gun. The gunman allegedly fired the weapon as many as 10 times before officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) intervened, reports WJLA.
Authorities took the unidentified man to a local hospital where he is in surgery. No further injuries were reported in the area. Georgia Avenue between New Hampshire Avenue and Taylor Street, Northwest is closed for the afternoon as police investigate the incident.
It appears the man did not specifically target anything, however some witnesses told WJLA it appeared the man fired on a passing Metrobus.
The shooting comes on the heels of several violent incidents in the District this week. DC Fire and EMS responded to a reported stabbing Monday afternoon at 5:21 p.m. and found an adult male with multiple wounds who later died at a local hospital. An unknown gunman shot a man multiple times Tuesday afternoon in Southeast, D.C.
The homicide rate in the District spiked 54 percent in 2015, and is only 13 percent lower so far this year. Homicides have tripled in Ward 7. D.C. is suffering a violent year overall, with 94 homicides across the city. The alarming surge in homicides is down from the shocking numbers in 2015, but is still historically high. There were a total of 105 homicides in 2014 and 88 in 2012.
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