Parking Spot Fight in NoMa Ends With 9 People, Including 7 Kids, Maced

A fight over a parking space on the unit block of M Street NE in Northeast D.C. turned into a mass pepper-spray attack Tuesday evening, leaving nine people, including seven children, needing treatment at the scene. Police say a woman sprayed the group before running off on foot, and she remains at large.

Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the block around 6:17 p.m. for a reported simple assault, according to WJLA. Investigators say the confrontation started as a dispute over a parking spot involving a group of victims and a woman, who they believe used pepper spray on the crowd. D.C. Fire and EMS medics treated all nine victims on scene, though it was not immediately clear if any were taken to a hospital.

Five Boys and Two Girls Among Those Sprayed

Among the nine people treated were five boys and two girls, along with two adult women, per the station's report. Police described the suspect as a woman in her late 20s with dark skin, a medium build and a ponytail, who was last seen running from the scene. No arrest had been made as of the report, and police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411.

The block where the confrontation happened sits in NoMa, a neighborhood that has seen intense residential redevelopment in recent years. The closure of major surface parking lots, including the 131 M Street NE lot in February, has sharply reduced available street parking in the area, according to PoPville. That kind of curb-space competition has made minor disputes more likely to boil over in high-density corridors like this one.

A Troubling Pattern of Chemical Spray Attacks

This is not the first time this year that pepper spray has been used offensively during a D.C. street dispute. In May, a man pepper-sprayed United States Park Police officers during a roadside confrontation near Peirce Mill in Northwest D.C., Hoodline previously reported. And in April, roughly 10 charter school students at Friendship Collegiate Academy needed medical evaluation after pepper spray was deployed during a campus fight.

A weekly summary from the United States Capitol Police also detailed a similar incident this month in which a suspect sprayed a citizen and their child in the face with mace after a verbal argument, then fled. The M Street NE block itself has a history of violence, including a November 2024 shooting that resulted in a nine-year prison sentence handed down in D.C. Superior Court this past March, according to DC Witness.

Assaults With Weapons Are Climbing Citywide

The incident lands amid a sharp citywide rise in dangerous weapon assaults even as overall violent crime in D.C. has fallen this year. Assaults with a dangerous weapon jumped 40% year-over-year, reaching 782 reported incidents through mid-August compared to 560 during the same period in 2025, according to Metropolitan Police Department statistics cited by Axios. A separate mid-year analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice found aggravated assaults in D.C. rose 45% in the first half of 2026 compared to the year before, even as homicides in the District dropped 41%.

That local trend stands in contrast to the national picture. FBI crime data released this month showed aggravated assaults falling 7.2% nationwide in 2025 and 2026, according to CBS News, even as D.C. saw its localized surge in non-fatal violent confrontations.

What Charges Could Follow

Pepper spray is legal for adults to carry in D.C. for self-defense under D.C. Code § 7-2502.13, but canisters cannot exceed 1.2 ounces of active propellant and must be used only for reasonable personal defense, according to Ervin Kibria Law. Using it offensively against a crowd moves the conduct into criminal territory. Under D.C. Code § 22-404, simple assault normally carries up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but intentionally or recklessly causing injuries that require immediate medical attention can raise the maximum penalty to three years in prison and a $12,500 fine, per David Stein Law. Whether prosecutors will pursue enhanced charges given the number of juvenile victims remains an open question, as does whether surveillance footage from nearby NoMa developments captured the suspect fleeing the scene.