Gun violence erupted on trendy U Street during a lunch hour funeral procession Tuesday, leaving one person dead and injuring two others, police said.
The violence happened near the U Street/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro station, on the same block as the popular eatery Ben’s Chili Bowl. At least two gunmen opened fire on several mourners who were getting into a gold sport utility vehicle near 13th Street, police said. The SUV sped down U Street, then collided with a black Mercedes-Benz and flipped onto its roof near 10th Street, police said.
One person in the SUV was killed, and another was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. A third victim refused to be taken to the hospital, authorities said.
The gunmen escaped, and police said they were searching for a light-colored, older-model car, possibly a Ford Crown Victoria.
D.C. Councilman Jim Graham said the shooting occurred after members of one gang went to the funeral of 21-year-old Ashley McRae to taunt members of another gang.
“It’s utter madness,” Graham said. “So now we’re going to have more people in the hospital and more people going to funerals over what? Over words. Words that lead to great human tragedy.”
Authorities did not identify the man who was killed and did not know if he died from the gunshot wounds or the crash.
But community leaders said the victim was 22-year-old Jamal Coates, an Adams Morgan man who was recently recognized by the city for trying to turn his life around.
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Bryan Weaver, who had been eating lunch near the shooting, said he had known the victim since he was a child and had taken him and other at-risk youth to Guatemala last summer to help work on service projects for the Mayan Indian Community.
As a juvenile, Coates had frequent run-ins with police, but had no convictions as an adult, according to sources and D.C. court records. Weaver said he still worried that the young man might be getting too close to “the life” and too close to the gang or crew leaders.
“This is out of control. Sixteenth Street might as well be a no-man zone for young African-American males,” he said.
Police said they do not believe the shooting was in retaliation for McRae. She was fatally shot in Southeast Washington on Sept. 18 after attending a night club.
She was killed by a jealous boyfriend, according to police, who have charged 22-year-old Damon A. Sams with second-degree murder.
On Tuesday, scores of people showed up for her funeral services at the Walker Memorial Baptist Church, including members of several street gangs, witnesses said. Ron Moten, head of Peacoholics, an anti-violence organization that helps mediate neighborhood disputes, said members of his organization tried to get the people who were arguing to leave shortly before the shooting.
“It’s a big situation going on right now,” he said. “It’s only going to get worse.”
