NEED TO KNOW
- Police in Washington, D.C., are investigating two incidents that left two teenagers with stab wounds and another person shot while a Pride Month event was taking place nearby
- A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were taken to a local hospital after they were injured in a stabbing during a fight that broke out in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood at around 7 p.m. local time on June 7
- Less than one hour later, another man was shot in the foot and taken to the hospital. Police have not shared whether these two incidents were related
Police in Washington, D.C., are investigating two incidents that left two teenagers with stab wounds and another person shot while a Pride Month event was taking place nearby.
According to The Washington Post, ABC affiliate 7 News and FOX 5 DC, two boys, ages 15 and 16, were injured in a stabbing during a fight that broke out in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood at around 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 7.
Police told the Post in a statement that the fight took place between “groups of juveniles” in a park, but police have not said what prompted the fight. A witness told the outlet that the victims were seemingly being treated just east of the park on Massachusetts Avenue NW.
D.C. police told the outlets that the victims were conscious and breathing when medics transported them to area hospitals from the scene of the incident, Dupont Circle Park. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Later, at around 7:50 p.m., after officers had cleared the park following the stabbing, a shooting broke out just south of the park. One man was shot in the foot, police told the Post. He was conscious and breathing and is expected to survive.
Police did not share whether the man was at the park when it was cleared following the stabbing, per the Post.
No arrests had been reported as of June 7, per the Post, and officials could not confirm whether these incidents were related to the nearby WorldPride D.C. parade festivities taking place in the area.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officials told 7 News that the Pride parade ended at around 7:30 p.m. and crowds were ordered to disperse from the park after both incidents.
The nearby Dupont Circle Metro Station was closed during the investigation, FOX 5 reported. The station later reopened by 10 p.m.
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According to the outlets, Dupont Circle Park is a popular location for Pride parade attendees to gather after the parade. 7 News reported that the park had been closed prior to the event, but the D.C. mayor’s office and the National Park Service agreed to take down the barricades for the festival.
D.C. councilmember Brooke Pinto spoke out about the incidents on June 7, calling the shooting and stabbings “absolutely unacceptable.”
“There were several stabbings and a shooting at Dupont Circle and it is now closed. This is absolutely unacceptable,” she wrote on X. “Please stay safe and if you are at the circle, time to leave.”
The MPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Sunday, June 8.
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