A woman turned up at the Southern Avenue Metro station Tuesday night with what appeared to be a graze wound after a shooting blocks away in Southwest Washington, according to police. Officers had responded to the 40th block of Galveston Place SW for reports of gunfire, but when they arrived, they found evidence of a shooting and no victims at the scene.
The woman was later found at the Metro station, conscious and breathing, according to officials, and medics transported her to a hospital for treatment. As reported by DC News Now, police said an investigation is underway after the Tuesday night shooting injured the woman in Washington, D.C. No suspects had been identified as of the report.
The 40th block of Galveston Place SW sits in the Bellevue neighborhood of Southwest Washington. The Seventh District covers Washington Highlands, Anacostia, Barry Farm and Naylor Gardens, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The station where the woman sought help, meanwhile, sits right on the jurisdictional line between the District and Maryland.
A Station Straddling Two Jurisdictions
Southern Avenue Metro station, located at 1141 Southern Avenue on Metrorail's Green Line, straddles the border of Washington, D.C., and Temple Hills in Prince George's County, Maryland, according to Wikipedia's entry on the station, which notes it opened in January 2001. The station is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
The shooting investigation prompted a heavy police presence around Southern Avenue station, even though the underlying gunfire happened blocks away in Bellevue.
A Corridor With a Violent History
The area around Southern Avenue has seen repeated bursts of gun violence in 2026 alone. A separate fatal shooting near Southern Avenue SE and Owens Road occurred Monday afternoon, one day before the Tuesday-night shooting near Galveston Place SW in Washington, D.C., a case Hoodline detailed separately. In June, no additional details about a fatal shooting on the 600 block of Southern Avenue SE were provided.
The Southern Avenue Metro station itself has been the scene of deadly violence before. In January 2023, a person was fatally shot in the station's parking lot, and Metro Transit Police arrested a 17-year-old who was later extradited to Maryland, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Galveston Place SW has its own history of gunfire, too: the Metropolitan Police Department lists a 2021 homicide on the unit block of Galveston Place SW.
What Comes Next
It remains unclear whether investigators have determined a motive for the Galveston Place gunfire or whether the woman was targeted or caught in crossfire. Police are urging anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411. Metropolitan Police Department materials include a $25,000 reward in homicide cases.
If a suspect is eventually charged, prosecutors would determine the appropriate charges based on the facts. Legal analyses from Koehler Law and Scrofano Law discuss possible charges.
