A Washington, D.C., police officer was injured Monday afternoon when someone got out of a car and fired shots into his SUV a few blocks from the Metropolitan Police Department's 4th Precinct station in the northwest corner, authorities said.
The injured officer was able to drive several blocks to the station, where fellow officers loaded him into a patrol car and took him to the hospital. Police say his injuries are not life-threatening.
Two people have been arrested after a vehicle believed to have been involved in a crime overturned in Landover, Maryland.
Police Chief Pamela Smith said the shooter will face serious consequences.
“We will not tolerate this type of violence in our city,” she said at a news conference.
Gunshots in residential area
Here's what police said investigators know so far:
The officer, a 4th District police chief with 18 years of service, was off-duty and had arrived at work around noon Monday. He was not in uniform and was driving his personal vehicle, a black SUV.
He saw someone driving erratically in front of him. Suddenly, the driver stopped in the 5800 block of 7th Avenue NW. A man got out of his car and began firing shots at the officer's SUV.
At least two bullets struck the SUV, a person familiar with the investigation told News4.
One resident said he heard gunshots a block away as he was sweeping the sidewalk.
“I was standing there cleaning, and I heard the bullets coming out, and I said, 'Oh my god,'” Joseph Moyes said.
Officers drove several blocks west to the police station at 6001 Georgia Avenue NW. He drove onto the lawn and stumbled to the station for help. The injured officer's colleagues drove him to MedStar Washington Hospital Center in a patrol car.
Smith said it was not immediately clear whether the officer was shot or hit by broken glass.
As the car containing the man who fired shots at officers drove away, officers obtained a description of the car and part of its license plate and broadcast it over police radio. A new real-time crime center in Washington, D.C., distributed information about vehicles to police departments across the region.
A Washington, D.C., police officer was shot and killed while driving near the 4th District Police Station. He rushed inside and his fellow officers took him to the hospital. Two people involved were taken into custody in Landover.
Two people involved were arrested after the car overturned.
Police spotted a suspicious vehicle and a pursuit began in Prince George's County. Witnesses said they saw officers pursue the driver of the suspect vehicle on Landover Road at Dodge Park Road, speeding between 70 and 80 mph. It's about nine miles east of the shooting scene.
A man who was nearby said he was walking his dog when he saw police chasing him and causing a collision.
“When he hit the car, he basically flipped over, almost flipped over, and then the car was pushed forward. I heard a loud thunder-like sound. You know what you see? You see glass everywhere, and it just happened, and you see the police swarming around,” Lewis Freeman said.
Both persons of interest, both male, were taken into custody without incident after the vehicle overturned.
Video from News4 shows a blue sedan lying on its side. Several Washington, D.C., police officers were seen, along with Prince George's County Police and Metro Transit Police.
No information about suspects or a possible motive has been released.
Police said the injured officer was with his family and was examined. A large police presence was seen outside MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
The officer's SUV was seen outside the 4D Police Station in the Brightwood/Petworth area. What appeared to be a bullet hole was visible in the passenger side window.
According to the Fraternal Order of Police, 378 police officers will be shot and killed in the line of duty in 2023. This is the highest number FOP has ever recorded. Officers just celebrated National Police Week last week.
A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation initially told News 4 that the officer was shot inside the police station.
For more on this developing story, visit NBC Washington.
