A District police officer was injured early Saturday in a shootout with a teenage suspect in Northeast D.C.
Police responded to a report of a disturbance at a house on the 700 block of Crittenden Street NE shortly after 5 a.m. When officers arrived, an armed 15-year-old boy was on the house’s second-floor awning and “ambushed the officers,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
Lanier said the suspect and officers exchanged fire, and one officer was hit three times. The officer, identified only 27-year-old man who has served with D.C. police for five years, was hit in the shoulder, in the neck and in the chest. The bullet to his chest was blocked by his vest, Lanier said.
The officer was hospitalized and is in good condition, Lanier said early Saturday afternoon.
The teenager was not hit by bullets but was taken to a hospital with a minor injury that appeared to be a cut, Lanier said. He has been released from the hospital and is in custody. He is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed. Police did not release his name because he is a juvenile.
Lanier said one or two officers fired their weapons. She said she didn’t know what sparked the initial disturbance at the house.
