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Gunshots rang out minutes after a funeral was held at approximately. on Tuesday April 11 at the Stewart Funeral Home on Benning Road for a man who was killed in March, according to Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee III.
The incident happened at approximately 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
Contee said that a member of the department was stationed nearby the funeral home at the family’s request, though the gunman was still able to fire into a crowd, striking four people in what appears to be a targeted attack.
One man was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting and three others were taken to area hospitals with what Contee described as “serious, but non-life-threatening” injuries.
Contee stressed that the MPD officer that was stationed nearby was a routine request that families often make, especially for homicide victims.
“(To do this in front of an officer) speaks to the brazenness of some of the people we see commit violent acts in our community,” he said. “I keep saying what I’ll say about violent criminals: when we have people who demonstrate this level of violence in our communities, I don’t think we can make excuses for these types of crimes.
“They have to be held accountable for their actions, and we have to work hard to get us there,” Contee continued. “It’s unfortunate someone would be so brazen to do such an act, especially at a funeral. How low can you be to attack people at a funeral."
Federal officials have joined the investigation, though police have been unable to provide details about the shooter or possible motive.
“The point is that several of the people were specifically targeted,” Contee said. “We’re unsure why that is. Why people are targeted at a funeral. I don’t understand that.”
The investigation into the shooter led to road closures at 41st Street and Benning NE and 36th Street and Blaine Road NE. As a precaution, the Benning/Dorothy I. Height Library was also placed on a lockdown.
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