WASHINGTON — Two men were arrested Wednesday after police said they fired at an off-duty officer in broad daylight and then led police on a chase through the LeDroit Park neighborhood.
One D.C. officer also fired a shot during the chase. No one was hurt, said Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham.
The names of the officers and the two men who were arrested were not released.
The mid-morning shooting drew the ire of Newsham.
“This mentality where people feel that they can discharge firearms in our city, that has to stop. Broad daylight, beautiful day and it’s so dangerous,” he said.
Newsham noted that a 68-year-old woman in a wheelchair was gunned down Monday morning on Elvans Road SE because of what he described as someone’s reckless actions. Police are still looking for the person responsible for killing Vivan Marrow.
“You shouldn’t be firing off a firearm in our city, ever,” Newsham said.
Newsham said the off-duty officer noticed a Mercedes driving erratically near 3rd and U streets NW just before 10 a.m. The officer alerted dispatchers and began tailing the car.
One of the men inside the car noticed the off-duty officer following them, and fired multiple shots toward the off-duty officer, who was driving his personal vehicle.
Police tracked the Mercedes to W Street where an officer fired at least one shot. The details surrounding the officer involved shooting were not immediately clear, Newsham said.
One of the men from the car was arrested and police recovered a handgun. Meanwhile, the driver of the Mercedes took off and crashed into parked cars on 5th Street. The driver ran on foot at that point and police eventually caught up with him in the 400 block of W Street.
D.C. officers are required to turn on their body cameras during pursuits. But it was not immediately clear what, if any, footage was captured, Newsham said.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
