More than 200 people have been killed in the District this year, D.C. police said after a teenage boy was shot to death in Northwest on Tuesday afternoon blocks away from his high school.
Maurice Jackson, 16, left Dunbar High School and was walking near the intersection of New Jersey Avenue and P Street NW when he started talking to "another group," D.C. police said.
Chief of Police Pamela Smith said one of the members of that group pulled out a gun and fired multiple times, shooting the teen in the chest. Police believe the suspects involved were teens.
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Video shows Jackson staggering across the intersection and seeking help from a crossing guard.
Medics rushed Jackson to the hospital. He was not responsive, police said.
Police said they're looking for two people in connection to the shooting. One person was wearing a black hoodie and jeans and the other wore a gray hoodie and black and red shoes, according to police.
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"We are sick and tired of the gun violence in this city. We need to have family members, parents, brothers, sisters really come forward and share with us these things that are happening, specifically relating to guns," Smith said.
Officers shut down roads in the area of the shooting as they investigated.
With Jackson's killing, D.C. surpassed 200 homicides this year, police said. Smith later announced that eight additional deaths from earlier in the year were ruled homicides, bringing the total to 209.
Homicides are up 28% in D.C. compared to this time last year, and Tuesday night marked the earliest the District has recorded 200 homicides since 1997. By this date last year, 155 homicides had been recorded.
An hour after Jackson was shot, 21-year-old Kamal Jones was caught in the crossfire of a shooting on Savannah Street SE. He died at the scene.
A 17-year-old who was shot and killed at the Congress Heights Metro station in Southeast D.C. in January became the first homicide victim known in D.C. this year. He was also a student at Dunbar High School.
The District recorded its 100th homicide in the first week of June, the fastest D.C. has hit the mark in two decades.
Fourteen juvenile gunshot victims have died so far this year in D.C. compared to 12 by the same date in 2022. Overall, 86 juveniles have been shot this year compared to 72 by this time last year.
Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.
