WASHINGTON — Detectives continue to look for the three men they said shot eight men and one woman in Columbia Heights Sunday evening. Police said 28-year-old Devin Peterson of Northeast, D.C. died in the shooting.
The shooting occurred in the 3600 block of 14th Street off Spring Street just before 5 p.m.
On Monday afternoon, detectives removed the police tape and businesses began to reopen. The sidewalk was still soiled and bullet holes damaged eight storefronts spanning the length of nearly the entire block.
“When I came here, it almost looked like a war zone,” one business owner said pointing to several bullet holes inside a restaurant he is renovating.
The owner of Alex’s Hair Cuts said everyone but one employee cleared out of the shop just 10 minutes before Sunday’s shooting. The worker remaining was in the back of the shop and was not hurt.
“It looks like multiple folks were targeted,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. "So this looks like a crew dispute that we have here in the city. We’re familiar with many of the players.”
Newsham visited the scene of the shooting Sunday and said detectives were looking for three men who took off in a dark blue car with tinted windows. The chief said police are recovering high capacity magazines that he believes have contributed to the 24% increase in homicides this year compared to 2019.
Business owners said they’ve seen fights in the area, but never gunfire like Sunday. While they said it’s unsettling, long time business owners said they are not going anywhere.
“It can happen anywhere -- there is no reason to be scared," one owner said.
Police are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to any arrest(s) in Sunday's shooting.
