Man taken into custody. Car here at Conn Ave and Van Ness NW. #wtop pic.twitter.com/wM5ON6qmxj
— Dick Uliano (@DickUliano) August 4, 2015Here's the vehicle that matches description of car with shattered window at WW2 Memorial #wtop pic.twitter.com/ToeP7Fnxga
— Dick Uliano (@DickUliano) August 4, 2015
WASHINGTON — U.S. Park Police say they have taken a man into custody after shots were reportedly fired near the National Mall Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. Park Police say they believe someone fired shots from a vehicle near the World War II Memorial and Independence Avenue around 2:30 p.m. Witnesses reported that a fight had been going on inside the vehicle.
Investigators found broken glass at the scene and obtained a vehicle description from which shots may have come, says U.S. Park Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Lelani Woods.
Hours later, police say they stopped a vehicle near Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street in Northwest D.C. that matched the description of the vehicle leaving the scene. The vehicle’s window was missing as well, Woods says. Police also found a hat that apparently had been thrown from the car.
Woods says a man was taken into custody at about 5:50 p.m. after a short pursuit, but his identity has not yet been released. A second person was also taken into custody for questioning on Tuesday, Woods says; she adds that he was injured, but it isn’t clear whether he had been shot.
A gun was found on the southbound lanes of the Rock Creek Parkway near the Kennedy Center, she adds. However, police can’t say for sure that the gun was connected to the incident.
The search for the vehicle forced road closures around the Tidal Basin and Rock Creek Parkway Tuesday afternoon.
There was no indication that anyone was injured. Neither monuments nor memorials were closed and police say the public was not in danger.
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Andrew Mollenbeck and Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
