A man was shot and killed Monday afternoon on the border between Washington Highlands and Glassmanor, Maryland, in the latest act of gun violence to strike a Southeast D.C. corridor that has seen repeated bloodshed this year. Seventh District officers responded to a reported shooting at Southern Avenue and Owens Road SE and found the man unconscious and not breathing with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to WJLA, D.C. Fire and EMS personnel attempted lifesaving measures before the man was declared dead. Homicide detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department responded to investigate, and as of Monday afternoon, police had not released any information about a possible suspect or suspects. The station's report, written by Alan Henney, notes the shooting occurred right where Washington Highlands, D.C., meets Glassmanor in Prince George's County, Maryland.
A Border Street Under D.C. Jurisdiction
Southern Avenue SE marks the legal boundary between the District and Prince George's County, but the entire roadway right-of-way falls under D.C.'s authority, according to the Prince George's County Planning Department. That means MPD serves as the lead investigative agency even in shootings that unfold within feet of the Maryland line, a jurisdictional detail that has mattered in past cross-border cases along this same corridor. The shooting falls under MPD's Seventh District, headquartered at 2455 Alabama Avenue SE, which patrols Washington Highlands, Anacostia, Barry Farm, and Naylor Gardens.
Washington Highlands is also a focus neighborhood for the city's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, a violence-intervention program established under the 2015 NEAR Act to deploy outreach workers and support trauma recovery in high-risk areas, per ONSE. The program is designed to de-escalate feuds and engage individuals identified as being at elevated risk of violence, though Monday's shooting shows the challenge such efforts still face along this stretch of the city.
A Neighborhood With a Recent, Painful Pattern
Monday's killing marks at least the third fatal shooting Hoodline has reported in or near Washington Highlands this year. Just less than two weeks earlier, 32-year-old Michael Barnes was fatally shot on the 800 block of Chesapeake Street SE. Seventh District officers also investigated a fatal shooting in April on the 400 block of Brandywine Street SE, where emergency personnel again attempted lifesaving measures before the victim was pronounced dead.
The Southern Avenue corridor itself carries its own history of gunfire. In October 2024, MPD homicide detectives investigated the killing of 34-year-old Dominic Johnson on the 4100 block of Southern Avenue SE after he was found with multiple gunshot wounds, and in January 2023, Metro Transit Police arrested a 17-year-old in connection with a fatal shooting in the parking lot of the nearby Southern Avenue Metro station, a case that ended with the teen extradited to Maryland to face first-degree murder charges.
Citywide Homicides Down, But Violence Persists Locally
The shooting comes even as D.C. has posted a significant citywide drop in homicides this year. Preliminary MPD statistics through early September show homicides down 30% year-over-year, falling to 72 from 103 during the same period in 2025, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. A mid-year report from the Council on Criminal Justice found an even steeper 41% decline in D.C. homicides during the first half of 2026 compared to a year earlier, with six of eight major crime categories analyzed showing double-digit decreases.
Still, MPD's own data shows total violent crime actually rose 6% citywide, driven by a 39% increase in assaults with a dangerous weapon, a reminder that the drop in homicides has not translated into an across-the-board decline in violence. Monday's shooting is a stark, local illustration of that gap for residents along the Southern Avenue corridor.
Police are asking anyone with information about Monday's shooting to call 202-727-9099. Tips can also be submitted by text to 50411. MPD offers a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in any D.C. homicide.
