Police responded to a subway shooting along the Washington Metro’s Blue and Silver lines Thursday morning, the second shooting event in under 24 hours.
Metro alerted passengers to a shooting that occurred at the Benning Road station at about 9:22 a.m. Three people have been shot, including a woman, 34, and two teenage males, both 15, according to police. Authorities are now on the hunt for three suspects believed to be juveniles under the age of 18 in connection with the attack.
The woman’s and one of the teenager’s injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening, but the other teenager’s wounds could be life-threatening, police added.
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“The challenge that we have is that we can never become numb to violence regardless of the age, but we are seeing more of juveniles, and it is disheartening to know that juveniles are the numbers that are driving gun violence as of recently,” 6th District Commander Darnel Robinson lamented during a press conference.
Three suspects in the shooting fled the scene, and police are investigating. The impetus for the rampage appears to have been a fight that broke out between the suspects and the juvenile victim who suffered life-threatening injuries to the thigh, Robinson explained.
Other victims of the shooting are not believed to have been intended targets, according to police. Officials were unsure if they were en route to school at that time. Authorities believe the shooting transpired at 9:07 a.m.
I’m here for @dcexaminer at the Benning Road Metro Station, where a shooting occurred that left three people injured. One is reported with having life-threatening injuries, per @MetroTransitPD. pic.twitter.com/jLhdiqcXLo
— Rachel Schilke (@rachel_schilke) December 8, 2022
Police shut down the Benning Road station and cleared out people from the scene.
Anne Schouw, a resident of Benning Road who lives just up the street from the station, said she was walking toward the center when she noticed it was blocked off. She said she was alarmed when she saw a man exit with blood on his shirt.
“I saw [police] pull two people out, one of which you can tell was shot in the leg, and then they pulled another lady out and took her away,” Schouw recounted.
She added that another victim had been taken through the elevator.
Schouw was also present at Metro Center when the shooting occurred yesterday that claimed one life. She said she had been on the lower Blue/Orange/Silver platform but that the situation was going on while she was waiting for a train.
“It’s not a normal occurrence to have, you know, two shootings in less than 24 hours,” she said.
Benning Road is her home station, she said, and she tells friends who are visiting her to come through the station frequently.
While she said she feels safe in her area, the shooting came as a shock to her.
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“Who wouldn’t be shocked by all this happening at the station that you go through every day and that is your home station?” Schouw said.
This is the second recent shooting after an off-duty FBI agent shot and killed someone on the Metro’s Red Line at Metro Center.
