D.C. police are working to figure out who is behind a shooting outside of a funeral home in Northeast that left a man dead and three people wounded Tuesday afternoon.
The shooting happened about 12:15 p.m. as people who had just attended a funeral service were milling on the sidewalk outside the Stewart Funeral Home near 40th and Benning Road NE.
The man who was killed has been identified as Terrell Coghill, 29, of Northwest D.C.
Two women and one man were also wounded and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said it appears the shooting was targeted, but police do not yet know why.
Police also do not know if there was one shooter or multiple shooters. Contee said investigators are working to identify witnesses.
Contee said the funeral was for a person who was shot and killed in D.C. in March, and there were officers posted near the funeral home during the service at the request of the victim’s family.
“It’s unfortunate that someone would be so brazen to do such an act, let alone at a funeral,” Contee said during a news conference from the scene of the shooting. “I mean, how low can you be, of a human being, to target other people at a funeral?”
Sontia Beckham works across the street and was in her office when the shooting happened.
“I just heard maybe around eight rounds of shots,” she said. “It sounded really, really close because my window is facing the funeral home.”
Beckham said she and her colleagues moved away from the window because she knew exactly what that noise was. She said gunfire echoes through that community far too often.
“It’s not even really scary anymore it’s just a bit of a shock,” Beckham said. “It’s sad and it shouldn’t be the norm.”
On Tuesday evening, D.C. police released photos of a white car they said was involved in the shooting. Police described it as a Lexus IS350 with possible damage to the bottom of the front passenger door.
On Wednesday afternoon, D.C. police said on Twitter the car had been recovered but that investigators were still looking for the suspect or suspects.
Police urged anyone with information to contact police at 202-727-9099 or to text an anonymous tip to 50411.
Below is a map showing the location of the shooting:
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
