Teen, 2 adults killed and multiple injured in overnight shootings across DC
WASHINGTON (7NEWS) — Several overnight shootings across Washington D.C. have left four people dead and multiple others injured.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, around 9 p.m. Saturday a 15-year-old boy was shot near the 1700 block of 8th Street Northwest. Police say they also found a man with a gunshot wound. The family identified Blu Bryant as the teen and said he died on Sunday.
“I’m just really heartbroken over the situation that I lost my son.”
7News spoke to Angela Bryant about her 15-year-old son Blu Bryant, who was a student at Archbishop Carroll High.
“I didn’t even know he was in the Shaw neighborhood I was so upset over the way Malachi died and I really like the young kids in that area," said Angela Bryant.
Malachi Lukes was killed two years ago at age 13, her son's best friend. Blu was also shot in that incident.
“Blu was shot in the leg as he ran to help Malachi,” she added.
"My heart is heavy the question is why, why are we getting ready to buy another 15-year-old why is that," said MPD Chief Robert Contee.
After yet, another violent weekend.
“My condolence goes out to the families. But to be quite honest, I’m tired of talking about condolences and prayer. I don’t want kids to have to be buried at 15, 16, 17 years of age. But we to come together continue to come together as communities to make sure we do all that we can to stem this tide we’re seeing,” Contee said.
“'I love you ma and I will call you later.' He would call me constantly throughout the day," sai Angela Bryant.
Around midnight, a woman was killed and a girl and boy were found injured from a shooting near the 800 block of Quincy Street Northwest, police say.
Police then began investigating a shooting near the 500 block of 50th Street Northeast where they found one man dead and another man injured.
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Then around 2 a.m. Sunday, police received a call about a shooting near the 300 block of V Street Northwest. Police say a man and woman were shot but transported themselves to a nearby hospital.
Around the same time, police responded to a shooting near the 5500 block of Illinois Ave where they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
On Sunday, police released information about another deadly shooting on Saturday afternoon. Officers responded at 4:47 p.m. to the 1700 block of West Virginia Avenue, NE, where they found 45-year-old Jason Ford, of Northwest, shot to death.
7News learned there was some dispute between Ford in a landscaping truck and a man on a scooter.
“The guy shot was a driver of the landscaping truck and there was a gun introduced into the equation," Contee said.
"... He was at work. Trying to take care of his family and now he can no longer do that..." said Tonya Ford, the wife of Jason Ford.
Tonya Ford was seemingly in disbelief that something like this could happen to her husband of 11 years.
"My thoughts are this, it should not have happened. Really shouldn’t it's senseless all the killings that are going on in the city I don’t understand why people are killing each other like this. I just don’t’ understand," said Tonya.
D.C. pastor Devin Turner is sad to see yet another deadly weekend here in the District.
“A mother of a member of my church was hit by a stray bullet last year,” said Pastor Turner of Revolution Church. “I’ve shed many tears. I’ve cried with families. I’ve cried in my own home. It’s very heartbreaking. We have people dying in our community on a regular basis. Our call to action this summer is asking people to engage in a season of peace. We’ve been working towards 30 days of gun violence ceasing.”
Pastor Turner and his church are going out into the community to help and support young people before they engage in gun violence.
“A lot of the shootings that we see in the city, a lot of youth that are retaliating with one another,” said Turner. “A lot of trauma and undealt with unresolved tension. And unfortunately, a lot of people go to the guns to try to resolve those issues.”
Pastor Turner is welcoming volunteers who want to help mentor youth in the District. He says it could make a big difference in a young person’s life and it could help decrease crime as well.
You can sign up to volunteer here.
All of the shootings remain under investigation.
The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for each homicide committed in the District of Columbia. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.
Correction: DC Police reported the name of the teen killed as "Blue Bryant." 7News spoke to his mother and she said it's spelled "Blu Bryant."
