US shooting leaves 2 dead, 3 injured

At least five people were shot, with two confirmed dead, in northwestern Washington, DC, on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The Metropolitan Police Department, or MPD, of the District of Columbia held a news briefing hours after the mass shooting. "This block is known to us. This is an ongoing problem for us," said Ashan Benedict, executive assistant police chief at MPD.

The shooting was reported at the corner of O Street and North Capitol Street. As Benedict described during the briefing, this area is an "open-air drug market". He said the shooting was possibly drug-related, and police responded within a very short time.

"Five people were shot today. It's unacceptable," Benedict said.

This is the second mass shooting in the District this month. On Aug 2, one man was killed and five more injured in a shooting in southeastern DC.

Police said a dark SUV pulled up at around 12:52 pm and two gunmen jumped out and started shooting. Two men were pronounced dead at the scene, while three other injured people were taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. Police then cordoned off the neighborhood to investigate, but no suspects were identified as of press time.

The scene is at a busy block near several schools, and school staff have been preparing for the new school year. Campuses were also locked down after the shooting occurred.

The MPD tweeted with a picture in the afternoon that they are looking for a black 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe with a possible Virginia temporary tag number.

Around 2 am the same day, another shooting happened just half a block away at Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street, with one 25-year-old man dead and one woman injured. Less than an hour later, a teenager was shot in northeastern DC. A few hours later on Wednesday evening, three men were wounded in another shooting four blocks away. At least 12 people were shot in the US capital during a day of violence.

MPD data showed that 136 people had been killed in the District of Columbia so far this year before this Wednesday's shooting, marking a 4 percent increase in homicides from this time last year. Additionally, DC police crime statistics showed that violent crime involving a gun increased by 29 percent in the past two years from the previous two years.

According to statistics released by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, the US has seen 432 shootings with four or more dead and injured as of Aug 24. And more than 28,758 people have lost their lives in various gun-related incidents.

On Wednesday evening, Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo was fired in a unanimous vote by the Uvalde school board, three months after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Texas.

In a closed-door meeting, the board voted to immediately terminate Arredondo's contract, who was widely blamed for the botched law enforcement response to the May 24 shooting.