Two young children were shot and seriously wounded after getting off a Metrobus in Northwest D.C. late Wednesday afternoon, Metro Transit Police said.
They were found conscious and breathing in the area of 14th and Sheridan streets in the Brightwood neighborhood, police said. They were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
“This is unacceptable,” D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said. “These are two of our kids that were shot … as they got off of a bus.”
A man also was shot and ran to a nearby apartment building, police said. He also was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
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Police said the incident started on a Route 54 bus traveling north on 14th Street NW when a group of people assaulted a passenger. The assault spilled onto the street, where one of the people in the group pulled out a gun and fired it, striking a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old who had just gotten off.
The children – a boy and a girl – got back on the bus after the shooting, and the driver proceeded further along 14th Street, police said.
“All they were doing was riding the bus coming home from school, and an idiot with a gun shot it indiscriminately and shot two children,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
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Police are reviewing video from the bus and plan to release images of the people involved. They also ask the public to check security cameras for footage that could help in the investigation.
