Gunshots rang out near Dupont Circle around 4:30 p.m. Friday evening, scattering a large group of minors who had gathered near 20th Street and New Hampshire Avenue NW before they fled toward the Dupont Circle Metro Station. Police are still searching for whoever pulled the trigger, and no victims or property damage have been found at the scene.
Officers responded to the area for the sound of gunfire, according to FOX 5 DC, and the crowd's retreat route sent people spilling toward the Dupont Circle Metro Station, as WUSA9 reported. An officer nearby reported hearing roughly four gunshots, according to Cedar News, which prompted a Metro Transit Police officer to chase a potential suspect on foot before losing sight of him.
The pursuit triggered a much larger response. MPD officers, Metro Transit Police, federal agents, and MPD's Falcon helicopter all converged to establish a perimeter, cordoning off a block of Sunderland Place NW, per the same Cedar News account. Police ultimately recovered shell casings as evidence of the shooting in the 1900 block of Sunderland Place NW, the station's report notes, but found no victims and no property damage in the immediate area.
A Landmark Caught in the Middle
That stretch of Sunderland Place sits directly beside the Heurich House Museum at 1307 New Hampshire Avenue NW, a Victorian mansion built in 1894 near the Metro station's south entrance, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The block draws heavy foot traffic from commuters, museum visitors, and nearby businesses throughout the day, which made the rush-hour timing of the gunfire especially jarring for anyone passing through.
Police detained and released one person in connection with the incident, though the suspect remains at large, according to police statements cited by FOX 5 DC. The exact motive behind the gunfire, along with the identity of the person Metro Transit Police chased toward the station, remains unknown.
Jurisdiction and Possible Penalties
The area falls under the Metropolitan Police Department's Second District, which covers Dupont Circle, Georgetown, and Foggy Bottom under District Commander Christopher Dorsey, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Anyone found responsible for unlawfully discharging a firearm in public faces criminal penalties of up to two years in prison and statutory fines under D.C. Code § 22-4503.01 and related municipal regulations, per MPD.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or send a tip by text to 50411. Tipsters who provide information leading to the seizure of an illegal firearm or a gun-related arrest can also qualify for cash rewards ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 through MPD's standing Firearm Tip Reward Program.
The incident also came less than two weeks after Hoodline reported on a shooting that left a man and woman injured along the same New Hampshire Avenue NW corridor. No arrests have been announced in Friday's case, and the search for the suspect continues.
