“It appears that the shooting was targeted,” police said in a statement Wednesday.
A Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C. turned violent early Wednesday morning when nine people — including two minors — were reportedly injured on a residential street.
Police Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons said law enforcement arrived at the scene on the 4700 block of Meade Street, in the northeast part of the city, shortly before 1 a.m. after receiving a report of a shooting.
In a video statement on Twitter, Parsons added that the victims sought treatment across the local area and that their injuries were not fatal.
“Several victims were transported by D.C. Fire and EMS to area hospitals and several victims sought their own treatment at area hospitals,” he said. “All of our victims have non-life-threatening injuries. We do have a total of nine victims.”
CNN reported that two of the victims were aged nine and 17.
Parsons said the investigation is in its early stages and that police are looking for a dark SUV that was spotted in the area.
“As it drove through the street, it stopped and it fired shots in the direction of some of our residents that were outside just celebrating the Fourth of July,” Parsons added about the suspect vehicle.
“It appears that the shooting was targeted towards those residents and victims that were struck,” he continued.
The investigation is being conducted by the NIBEN unit, which consists of detectives and ATF agents, said Parsons, who also asked that anyone who had “any photo, any images, any video that could assist us,” call or text the department.
The shooting was one of many violent incidents that occurred across the U.S. during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Ten people died and dozens more were injured in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wichita, Kansas, and Fort Worth, Texas, USA Today reported.
Independence Day has had more mass shootings than any other day of the year in the last decade, averaging five, the outlet added.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 350 reported mass shootings this year in the U.S.
In a statement on gun violence on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said “Today, Jill and I grieve for those who have lost their lives and, as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence.”
He continued: “It is within our power to once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of guns, to end gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and to enact universal background checks. I urge other states to follow Illinois’ lead, and continue to call upon Republican lawmakers in Congress to come to the table on meaningful, commonsense reforms that the American people support.”