WASHINGTON — A 14-year-old boy was "injured by his own accidental discharge" Saturday afternoon just a block away from a Northeast high school, said Police.
Police were called to the 1200 block of 47th Street NE around 4 p.m. Saturday on a report of a 14-year-old shot in the leg. Officers arrived to find the teen conscious and breathing. No suspect information was immediately provided.
The accidental discharge occurred just a block away from IDEA Public Charter School and in a part of D.C. that saw more than a half dozen juveniles shot last year alone. According to DC Police data, at least eight juveniles were shot in the same police service area – which covers the neighborhoods of Deanwood, Central NE and Lincoln Heights – between January and the end of October last year. No more recent data on juvenile shootings was available. Another juvenile was shot approximately a half mile away in the 1500 block of Olive Street just two weeks ago.
Officers told WUSA9 they reclassified the incident from a "Shooting Investigation" to an "Injured Person to the Hospital call."
Juvenile Crime:
The mentioned accidental discharge is the latest incident in a pattern of rising juvenile crime that prompted DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to declare a youth violence emergency last year. So far this year, teens have been identified as both the suspect and victim in a number of high-profile violent crimes, including the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Avion Evans on the Brookland-CUA Metro platform in April. Another teen, a 16-year-old boy, was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Evans’ shooting.
In November, two teenagers – 16-year-old Marlan Smith Jr. and 17-year-old Anthony Monroe – were charged as adults in connection with the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Antonio Cunningham outside of his workplace last September. According to charging documents, the shooting was the culmination of a robbery spree targeting brand name sneakers and iPhones that saw multiple other teens victimized.
Earlier this week, a judge set a June trial date for three young girls, ages 12 and 13, who are charged with second-degree murder in connection with the fatal beating of 64-year-old Reggie Brown.