A teenage boy has died after being shot in the parking lot of Theodore Roosevelt High School in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday afternoon.
According to police, the boy, identified Thursday as 17-year-old Jefferson Luna-Perez, of Northwest D.C., was shot outside the Petworth high school following an altercation.
Luna-Perez, who was a student at the high school, was taken to a local hospital, where officials attempted lifesaving maneuvers before he died, police said.
At a news conference following the shooting, Assistant Chief of Police for Patrol Services North Morgan Kane said that the boy was shot with a handgun outside of the school. She added that multiple gunshots were heard from inside the school, but it is unknown if there was an exchange of gunfire.
Kane also said police are working with the school’s officers, who were inside the school at the time of the shooting, to review video footage. K-9 units searched the scene for casings and potential additional weapons.
The handgun the teen was shot with was recovered in the parking lot.
Mayor Muriel Bowser commented on the fatal shooting saying, “We don’t want to see any gun violence in our city, certainly not among our children. We regard our schools as the safest place for our children.”
Several nearby schools were placed on lockdown while police investigated the scene and students were dismissed afterwards, a D.C. Public Schools spokesman said.
