A US Park Police officer was seriously wounded in an apparent ambush shooting in Washington D.C. on Monday evening, according to multiple reports. Park Police Chief Scott Brecht said the officer was ambushed by two gunmen who fired at his unmarked white Tesla. The officer was shot in the shoulder and is in serious but stable condition, an anonymous law enforcement official reported, while the U.S. Park Police confirmed he is in non-life-threatening condition. The call came in about 7:30 p.m., and the officer was airlifted by U.S. Park Police helicopter to an area hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department.
Authorities are searching for two suspects, Park Police Chief Scott Brecht stated. The officer was working on an ongoing Park Police investigation when shot, Brecht added, and Washington's interim police chief Jeffery Carroll said the officer was targeted. Carroll noted there is a belief that the suspects potentially knew he was a police officer, but the specific evidence leading to that belief remains unclear. The shooting took place in the District's Southeast quadrant, close to the border with Maryland, and federal officials are assisting in the investigation, though the exact agencies and their roles have not been disclosed. Carroll emphasized, 'There's no reason that anybody, a police officer or not a police officer, should be shot just for being out here driving through the neighborhood.' According to Carroll, 'We believe potentially they did know he was a police officer, but that'll all be part of the ongoing investigation as relates to the actual shooting incident.'
There's no reason that anybody, a police officer or not a police officer, should be shot just for being out here driving through the neighborhood.
We believe potentially they did know he was a police officer, but that'll all be part of the ongoing investigation as relates to the actual shooting incident.