WASHINGTON — Two men are dead after a shooting in Southeast D.C. Friday morning, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Police are still working to figure out what led up to the shooting.
Officers were called to the area of 400 block of Chesapeake Street Southeast, near Hendley Elementary School, for a report of a shooting just before noon on Friday. When officers arrived, they found a man and another person who had been shot.
DC Police Chief Pamala A. Smith said one person was pronounced dead at the scene. The other was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Saturday afternoon police identified the two men killed as 56-year-old Charles Luster Jr. and 20-year-old Tyjon Clayton, both of Southeast, DC.
Police are still searching for who is responsible. Chief Smith said investigators are searching for a red Jeep four-door SUV in connection to the case. Four people were inside the vehicle at the time, and two people in the back got out and opened fire, Smith said. So far, no arrests have been made.
"Let me be clear: This gun violence has to stop. We can no longer have this type of violence in any of our cities across the District of Columbia. If you see something, we are asking you to say something," the chief said in a press conference.
Anyone who may have information about what happened should contact MPD at 202-727-9099, or text the department's tip line at 50411.
Just behind the two men who were shot in the line of fire sits the Sunshine Learning Center daycare. Bullets hit the building near the front door and struck cars in the parking lot - areas the staff says children and teachers would have likely been at the time of the shooting if not for their first ever field trip which kept them away, and safe.
From newborns to pre-k, the center has served Ward 8 families for 55 years.
Tasha Mac with Sunshine Learning Center says even before Friday's shooting, they were already raising money to build a wall around the daycare to keep kids safe.
She'd like the city's help, too.
“Let's have the real conversation,” said Mac. “Not just for a soundbite for the victims or crime in Ward 8. Because Sunshine we're not going anywhere so help us keep our babies safe.”