Police say two men were shot outside the gates of Smithsonian’s National Zoo Monday afternoon.
The shooting was reported around 5:17 p.m. on a busy stretch of Connecticut Avenue in northwest D.C. According to D.C. police, a large group of between 30 to 50 people was traveling southbound on Connecticut Avenue when shots rang out.
“We have no indication that there was an argument that precipitated the shooting,” D.C. Police Cmdr. Michael Reese said during a news conference about an hour after the shooting.
One victim was shot in the hand, and the other was shot in the arm. Both injuries are non-life threatening, and no suspect information has been released. Additional police presence spread to neighboring Metro stations immediately after the shooting.
The zoo hosted Easter Monday: A Washington Family Tradition event throughout the day, with family-friendly activities and live entertainment.
“We were not expecting [a shooting] but we had a heavy police presence up here,” Reese said. “We had multiple agencies… this is a very festive event. Numerous times nothing happened up here, but it’s important for us to show a force and that’s what we did.”
On Easter Monday in 2011, a 16-year-old stabbed a 14-year-old at the zoo. Mshairi Alkebular received an 82-month sentence after pleading guilty in that stabbing.
On Easter Monday in 2000, a 16-year-old shot seven people near the zoo entrance. That teen was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
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