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2 injured in shooting near National Zoo entrance Two wounded in shooting near National Zoo
(about 1 hour later)
Two men were shot and wounded late Monday afternoon near the National Zoo, which thousands of people had visited on a beautiful Easter Monday. Two people were shot and wounded Monday afternoon during a confrontation on Connecticut Avenue NW near the National Zoo, site of an annual event that drew thousands of people throughout the day.
The men suffered injuries not considered to be life-threatening in the shooting, which occurred at 5:17 p.m. in the 3000 block of Connecticut Avenue, said Officer Paul Metcalf, a D.C. police spokesman. It was not known what led to the shooting, which is unusual in the neighborhood of Northwest. Neither of the victims was thought to be seriously wounded. One was struck in the hand and found in the 3000 block of Connecticut, just outside the zoo. The other was found about four blocks away.
The address is across from one of the main zoo entrances, but there was no indication that the shooting involved the zoo or its visitors. No motive was known in the shootings. D.C. police Cmdr. Michael Reese, head of the 2nd Police District, said investigators thought that as many as 50 people were walking on Connecticut about 5 p.m.
Attendance at the zoo was substantially higher than on a normal weekday in April. In a tradition that goes back decades, the zoo hosts special activities on the day after Easter. At some point, he said, shots were fired.
Devin Murphy, a zoo spokeswoman, said about 16,000 people had visited the zoo as of 4:30 p.m. Last year, she added, the figure was about 30,000. It was not clear who fired or why. Gunfire in that Northwest Washington neighborhood is unusual.
Murphy said she knew of nothing suggesting that the victim or whoever attacked him had been in the zoo Monday. There were no reports of problems Monday at the zoo, she added. Police had no information indicating what led to the shooting, Reese said, and authorities are hoping to hear from witnesses.
After the shooting, the gates of the zoo were closed, and people were not permitted to enter. Those inside were permitted to remain, Murphy said. The shooting occurred despite a heavy police presence near the zoo, which was hosting Easter Monday activities. Visitor traffic at the event usually clogs Connecticut close to the zoo.
By about 6 p.m. she said it had been determined that those inside could leave safely. The event has been followed by violence at or near the zoo on at least two previous occasions. In 2000, seven people were shot at the zoo. Four years ago, a teenager was stabbed during a fight there.
She said Easter Monday activities had ended at 4 p.m. That is more than an hour before the shooting. A zoo spokeswoman said she knew of nothing suggesting that the gunfire was related to anything that had occurred at the zoo. About 16,000 visitors had been counted by late in the afternoon, she said, but it was not known whether any of those involved in the violence had been among them, Devin Murphy said.
Police were on the lookout for two male teenagers who may have been involved in the attack. As of about 5:45, police had closed Connecticut Avenue between Hawthorne Street and Devonshire Street. Bri’Ana Jenkins and her friend, Par’Ris Thompson, both 19, said they were at the zoo entrance and preparing to head inside late in the day. The women said they were lingering near the entrance, hoping they could get inside, when they heard two shots.
Dozens of people, some with strollers, poured back into the zoo to search for cover, the women said. They saw some people hiding behind trees.
When shots rang out, people who had left the zoo “bombarded back inside,” Thompson said.
“Back in the zoo. That was the safest place to be,” Jenkins said.
The women said it appeared that the shooting of two males occurred across the street from the zoo entrance, near a Starbucks and a hot-dog vendor.
Murphy said that after the shooting, zoo gates were closed to new arrivals but those already inside were permitted to stay.
The zoo was determined to be safe for visitors to leave by 6 p.m., which Murphy said was the normal closing hour in April.
At one point Monday afternoon, police said they were looking for two male teens who may have been involved in the incident. As of about 5:45 p.m., police had closed Connecticut between Hawthorne and Devonshire streets.
Other effects of Monday’s incident rippled up and down the avenue.
The Cleveland Park branch of the D.C. public library remained closed hours after the shooting. “The library is under lockdown until further notice,” signs read.
Groups of yoga students hoping to use the library’s community room and parents with children waited outside wondering whether the library, three blocks north of the zoo, would reopen before its regularly scheduled 9 p.m. close. Restaurants near the library were teeming with people using outdoor seating to enjoy the mild evening.
Staff writer Marc Fisher contributed to this report.