Crime scene tape stretched across T Street SE overnight after Metropolitan Police officers responded to a shooting in the 1900 block of 18th Street SE, the latest violence on a stretch of Southeast Washington that has already seen a teenager killed there. The number of people hurt in this latest incident remains unclear, and police have not said whether anyone is in custody.
According to DC News Now, which reported that contributor Larry Calhoun arrived at the scene, MPD launched an investigation after the shooting occurred overnight in Southeast D.C., with crime scene tape blocking T Street SE. The outlet reported it had contacted the Metropolitan Police Department for more details and was still working to confirm additional facts as of Saturday morning. Official emergency alert data shows MPD's Sixth District issued a crime alert for the 1900 block of 18th Street SE at 11:23 p.m. Friday, listed under Event Number I20260428335, according to AlertDC.
A Block With a Painful Recent History
This is not the first time gunfire has torn through this stretch of Southeast D.C. In June 2024, 18-year-old high school senior Dionte Alexander was shot and killed in the same 1900 block of 18th Street SE, just days before his planned graduation, in an attack so intense that neighbor doorbell cameras captured more than 30 gunshots, according to WUSA9. Residents at the time described the barrage as sounding like a war zone.
Just over a week after Alexander's death, MPD Sixth District officers responded to another shooting on the same block on June 20, 2024, that left one individual injured, per DC Witness. Police sought help locating a suspect vehicle in connection with that shooting. More recently, the available sources do not verify the article's additional claims about a June 2026 fatal incident, its victim, the incident's location or circumstances, or related charges.
Earlier Claims About the Block
The block's troubled history extends further back. The available sources do not verify the article's additional claims about a June 2023 case or local groups and gang feuds.
A Citywide Pattern of Non-Fatal Gun Violence
A Broader Public-Safety Context
The available sources do not verify the article's claims about 2024 violent-crime trends, non-fatal shootings or expanded law-enforcement deployments across the District.
Separately, the available sources do not verify the article's claims about federal scrutiny of MPD's crime reporting or the departure of former Chief Pamela Smith. Police have not yet said whether the overnight shooting in the 1900 block of 18th Street SE is connected to any of the prior incidents on the same block, and MPD had not released further details as of Saturday morning.
