Police search for teen-age suspect in National Zoo shootout

Scenes following the shooting

April 25, 2000
Web posted at: 6:16 a.m. EDT (1016 GMT)

In this story: Witnesses describe scene Mayor visits hospital RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- The National Zoo, one of the most visited sites in the nation's capital, is closed Tuesday, as police investigate a violent shootout that left seven youths wounded.

Police said they were looking for at least one teen-age suspect in the Monday night gunfight, which they said may be gang-related. It broke out during an annual event celebrating African-American families.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced it was offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading toward the capture of the gunman.

"This type of random violence is repulsive and it must not be allowed to go unpunished," said NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who added that the civil rights group recently decided to take a more active role in incidents such as this.

"We are looking into the possibility that it is gang-related, but we are not certain," Police Chief Charles Ramsey said.

MESSAGE BOARD National Zoo shootings     AUDIO Listen to two witnesses talk about the shooting 971K/22 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The victims of the late Monday afternoon shooting ranged in age from 11 to 16 years of age, according to police.

Three of the victims were taken to Children's National Medical Center. Officials there said they are treating an 11-year old boy with a gunshot wound to the head. He is described as having a brain injury. A 12-year old girl and a 14-year old boy are in serious but stable condition.

Two other youths, males 13- and 15-years-old, were taken to Georgetown University Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the legs. Both are now listed in good and stable condition. Another victim was taken to Washington Hospital Center.

A police spokesperson said a seventh teen-age victim showed up to an area hospital at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the right thumb. The 16-year-old was treated and released. Police do not know why the teen waited so long to seek treatment. The spokesperson said the matter was being investigated.

Hours after the shooting, police were still circling the zoo in helicopters, seeking a gunman. Police also locked down several apartment buildings in the area.

Deputy Police Chief Terry Gainer said there are two crime scenes. One is about 300 feet inside the entrance of the zoo, near the visitors center, and the other is across the street from the zoo. Gainer said some of the shots may have been fired from across the street. Shell cases recovered at the scene are either 9 mm or .380-caliber casings.

A 17-year-old zoo employee said he witnessed a group of young men beating up another young man just before the gunshots rang out.

"I saw somebody. They had just been stomped out -- beat up -- then I heard shots. They sounded like firecrackers, lots of them," said the employee, who declined to give his name.

Witness Nakisha Johnson, 17, said she saw one young man open fire after a feud between youths became violent. She said the children who were wounded were caught in the middle of the two groups of youths.

"He was just shooting at the people he was fighting" but struck the youths standing nearby, Johnson said.

Capt. Brian Lee of the Washington Fire Department told reporters two adults also were taken to the hospital for treatment, a pregnant woman who went into labor during the incident and another person who suffered a seizure at the scene.

The shootings took place in the late afternoon at the main entrance to the zoo on Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington. Police closed off the Connecticut Avenue area surrounding the zoo.

Monday at the zoo was the eighth annual African-American family celebration. The events included Easter egg hunts, special animal demonstrations, storytellers, dancers and African drummers.

A National Zoo spokesman estimated there were 20,000 to 25,000 people at the zoo. Some visitors said they never would return.

"I am not bringing them back," said Sandra Edwards, who was visiting the zoo with her grandchildren when she heard the shots and saw youths fighting. "These are my grandkids. It is not safe,"

The zoo was to remain closed Tuesday. "It is just a terrible, terrible tragedy," zoo spokesman Robert Hoage said. "Our hearts go out to the families."

Mayor Anthony Williams visited Children's Hospital to console victims' families.

District of Columbia congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton also went to the hospital. She said the fact that children have guns "is the fault of the Congress of the United States." She said the event at the zoo is a "wonderful tradition" but lamented "shootouts at Easter egg hunts -- that's what it comes down to."

About an hour after the shooting, Vice President Gore announced the shootings at a Democratic fund-raiser in New York City, bringing gasps from the audience.

"We really have to have mandatory child safety trigger locks, and photo license IDs for the purchase of new handguns," Gore told the crowd.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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National Zoo, Washington, D.C.
D.C. Metropolitan Police Department
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