WASHINGTON -- D.C. police are searching for answers after multiple people were shot over Memorial Day weekend.
Chief Peter Newsham addressed the shootings on Tuesday and provided updates on the victims including 15-year-old Maurice Scott, who was shot Sunday morning walking to a convenience store.
Scott was shot and killed by a gunman who got out of the passenger’s side of a car and opened fire in the 3500 block of Wheeler Avenue in Southeast, according to police.
“I want to extend my condolences to Maurice’s family and friends as they mourn the senseless loss of this young man,” Newsham said. “From all accounts Maurice was a good kid. He was from the neighborhood and preliminary he was not the target in this brazen attack.”
Three others were also shot by the gunman including a mother, her 9-year-old daughter and another woman. Newsham says the female victims were all shot in the legs and feet and are expected to survive. No suspect information has been released at this time.
Newsham also addressed the fatal stabbing of 44-year-old Michael Hooker, of Southeast, D.C. Hooker was found unconscious and unresponsive in the 2700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd around 5:40 p.m. Sunday.
Newsham said Hooker was taken to the hospital with a severe cut to his neck. He was later pronounced dead. No suspect information has been released for this incident.
On Memorial Day afternoon five people, including a young boy, were shot in the 1200 block of Sumner Road in Southeast, according to police. The shooting happened around 2:36 p.m. outside the Barry Farms Recreation Center.
Newsham said the four adult men and the boy do not have life-threatening injuries.Police said they are looking for a gray or silver Nissan that was seen fleeing the scene heading towards Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
Just after midnight on Tuesday, William Boykin, 36, of District Heights, Md., died after being shot in the 2600 block of Birney Place Southeast. Police said another man was also shot multiple times and was transported to a local hospital.
His name will not be released because he is a crime victim and potential witness, according to police. Authorities have not identified a suspect(s) in this incident.
Newsham says this pattern of shootings will not become the new normal. Police plan to increase staffing in areas where they have seen more violence as part of their summer crime initiative.
“We have every intention of finding the people responsible in these cases and any other shootings that happen here in the District," Newsham said.
Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or text an anonymous tip to 50411.