District of Columbia police said four people were gunned down in shootings Tuesday as the city endures an uptick in homicides early in the year.
Metropolitan Police said the first killing started shortly after midnight in Northwest, with the last at about 7:30 p.m. when a 17-year-old boy was shot dead in Southeast.
MPD data has documented 18 slayings in the nation’s capital this year, up from 11 at the same point in 2024.
“We are working diligently to put the pieces together,” Assistant Chief LaShay Makal, who oversees patrols in Southeast, Capitol Hill and parts of downtown, said Tuesday about the shootings. “What we can tell you is that there’s no connection between any of these cases.”
The shooting that killed the 17-year-old in the 3500 block of Sixth Street Southeast also sent a 16-year-old boy to the hospital with gunshot wounds. Police didn’t provide an update on the teen’s condition.
Chief Makal said officers are searching for a male in all dark clothing who was last seen running from the area.
Another shooting erupted at about 5:15 p.m. in a Navy Yard apartment building.
MPD said officers found a man with gunshot wounds inside the complex on the 1000 block of First Street Southeast. He later died from his injuries.
Chief Makal said someone was taken into custody in connection to the shooting.
“That case was isolated indoors, it was domestic in nature, and detectives have made an arrest in that case,” she said.
Shortly after 8:30 a.m., police were called to the 1300 block of Congress Street Southeast for reports of an unconscious person.
Authorities said they found 19-year-old Khamani Hicks of Rockville, Maryland, at the scene. He was pronounced dead after emergency officials were unable to bring him back to life.
The first fatal shooting of the day took place when police said they heard gunshots on the 3100 block of 16th Street Northwest.
Officers raced to the scene and found E’Zell Hill, 22, of Northeast lying unconscious on the ground with visible gunshot wounds. Police said he died at the scene.
MPD has not identified a wanted suspect or person of interest in either of Tuesday morning’s deadly shootings.
The rise in killings through the first five weeks of the year sticks out when compared with the noticeable drops in other violent crimes. Robberies, weapon assaults and carjackings — all of which terrorized the city during a generational crime wave two years ago — are down through the early part of 2025.