A shooting left a 15-year-old boy dead and three more injured at a Juneteenth celebration in Washington D.C. over the weekend, according to The Washington Post.
Several hundred people reportedly gathered for the event, called "Moechella" in a historically Black neighborhood on Sunday (June 20), D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said during a Monday morning (June 20) press conference. Authorities say police officers tried breaking up the "unpermitted" event after a fight broke out and some people were trampled in a separate incident.
Amidst the chaos, four people were shot, including a juvenile and a police officer, according to Contee. The police chief says two adults and the cop were rushed to the hospital, but the teen died.
Over 100 police officers were on the scene, and several firearms were confiscated in the general area prior to the shooting, police claim. No arrests have been made nor suspects named as of Tuesday morning (June 21).
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also made an appearance at the press conference, calling for "accountability" following the shooting.
“We have a child who was killed today at an event that did not have any proper planning for the number of people who were here and with guns involved, and with our police managing a crowd on site, somebody used a gun, and a child is dead,” Bowser says. “The chief and I will continue to make sure we have the resources we need on these corridors and all of our corridors but we need some accountability here.”
Moechella's Instagram page described the event as a "peaceful demonstration" with some music artists lined up to perform. A statement was issued following the shooting:
"We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that occurred in the hours following Moechella on June 19th, 2022. We send our condolences to the victims and their families affected by this senseless tragedy and hope for a healthy recovery to those that were affected.
Moechella has always been a peaceful demonstration of our constitutionally protected right of assembly and free speech under the 1st amendment. The purpose of this demonstration has always been to speak out against social inequities plugging Washington D.C., like gun violence, the lack of resources for the underserved community, police brutality and the need for D.C. statehood."
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