A teenage boy was stabbed multiple times at the Smithsonian National Zoo on Monday afternoon during a packed traditional Easter celebration for African American families, officials said. Authorities received numerous calls about fights inside and outside the zoo, and police were still trying to sort out what happened Monday evening.
In a statement, zoo officials said the stabbing occurred on the property, and the victim left the grounds.
One teenager was taken into custody and faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Around 3:20 p.m., D.C. police received a call for a stabbing at the zoo, said Officer Paul Metcalf. Around that time several teenagers were escorted from the ground by zoo police. Around 4 p.m., D.C. fire and rescue officials received several calls about a stabbing victim at the 2900 block of Connecticut Avenue, and upon arrival they found a teenage male in front of the Parkwest Apartments at 2929 Connecticut Ave., suffering from knife wounds to the chest, said D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer. The teen was taken to Children’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Thirty minutes later, authorities responded to another assault at Connecticut and Woodley Avenue. A teenager was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. It was unclear whether the attacks were related.
The zoo’s annual hosting of an Easter Monday event for African-American families dates back to the 1890s.
In 2000, the same event was marred by a shooting that wounded seven children. A group of teenagers got into a fight in front of the zoo at 3001 Connecticut Avenue, and a 17-year-old pulled out a 9 mm pistol and fired across the street into a crowd. The shooter, Antoine B. Jones, of D.C. was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the shooting.
Prosecutors said the shooting damaged the reputation of the national zoo as a safe place to bring families.
