A University Police Department officer helps direct traffic in front of a crime scene at 24th Street and New Hampshire Avenue. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor
Updated: 2:03 a.m.
Metropolitan Police officers arrested multiple suspects near campus but the arrests have not been linked to the shooting in Georgetown late Monday night.
Three to five shots ripped through M and 28th streets after 10:30 p.m., near the Georgetown Four Seasons Hotel. Later, at least one person was transported away from the scene in an ambulance. An officer said he suspected the incident would be labeled a homicide.
Two suspects were arrested by Metropolitan Police officers near the Foggy Bottom Metro.
“At approximately 11:15 p.m…the George Washington University Police Department was notified of armed suspects in the I Street Mall area. Both suspects have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department,” University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard said.
The I Street Mall area is also the Foggy Bottom Metro area.
Both University and Metropolitan police department officers arrived at the alleyway between 24th Street and New Hampshire Avenue late Monday night, keeping both vehicle and pedestrian traffic away. Michelle Rattinger | Senior Photo Editor
A witness near the Metro said he saw a man come up behind GW Hospital in the aftermath of a fight near the station. When a truck approached a car that was picking the man up, the person ran toward an alley, the witness said.
Police later closed off that alleyway near New Hampshire Avenue and 24th Street, blocking residents from returning to the townhouses that dot the street.
Officers searched a red pick up truck parked outside the 7-Eleven by City Hall, while the streets leading into Georgetown were closed off.
Secret Service agents aided MPD in investigating the red truck before escorting a person from GW Hospital. Agents declined to comment.
In Georgetown, more than two dozen police officers were holding a group of teenagers at the corner of 28th and M streets until at least 1:20 a.m. Each of the teenagers was uncuffed and was later escorted home by police officers.
University spokeswoman Candace Smith said the University was delayed in getting a report out to the community. She noted that tweets and Facebook messages were sent. The first notification was sent more than an hour after the initial shots in Georgetown. A Crime Alert hit inboxes shortly after 1:30 a.m.
“Unfortunately, there has been a delay in sending out the alert due to emergency maintenance of the mass email notification system. [Information Technology] personnel are actively working to resolve the issue and distribute the alert,” Smith said. “We also have other means to notify the community such as the news media and social media. We utilized those tonight.”
-Lauren French, Andrea Vittorio, Priya Anand, Chelsea Radler, Sarah Ferris, Cory Weinberg, Michelle Rattinger and Francis Rivera contributed to this report.
