At least 2 killed, 3 injured in Washington DC mass shooting

Two people have been killed and two others injured in yet another mass shooting in a neighborhood described by police as "sensitive" in Washington DC.

The shooting occurred when a dark SUV pulled up and two gunmen jumped out and began shooting in a neighborhood at north of New York Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Two men were pronounced dead at the scene, and three men took themselves to the hospital.

"At least two shooters exited the vehicle and began shooting at folks that were on the block," said the Executive Assistant Chief of DC Police Ashan Benedict.

"They were either in chairs or standing,” he said. “The individuals got back in that black SUV and went westbound on O Street. At this point, the individuals that were shot ... appear to be all adult black males.”

Police are looking to locate the suspect vehicle in connection to the shooting, he said.

Based on “very early information,” Benedict said he believes seven shots were fired and that semiautomatic pistols or rifles were used by the two shooters.

He noted that a school near the scene was briefly put on lockdown.

“This is a sensitive neighborhood, a lot of our neighborhoods are sensitive. We have crime spikes in certain areas, and a lot of our resources go towards where intelligence drives. So this block is known to us,” he said.

“The causes of our homicides for are multifaceted. They're ... drug-related, they're crew related, they're crimes of passion and they're random acts of violence, occasionally, and they are arguments that escalate,” Benedict added.

“The best we can do is go after those people that we know are shooters ... and keep them behind bars,” he said.

Benedict also said that police have seized more guns this year than in all of 2021 in Washington DC.

More than 2,000 firearms have been recovered, according to him.

The United States struggles with the violent crime as the rising number of gun deaths extends beyond recent high-profile mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, emerging nearly every day inside homes, and on the streets of many cities, according to federal data.

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The surge in gun violence comes as firearm purchases rose to record levels in 2020 and 2021. The rate of gun deaths in those years hit the highest level since 1995, with more than 45,000 fatalities each year.

According to the independent data collection non-profit organization, Gun Violence Archive, the US has witnessed over 380 mass shootings this year alone.

In late July, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to revive a ban on certain semi-automatic guns, the first vote of its kind in years amid growing outrage over rising incidents of gun violence.

Back in June, President Joe Biden signed into law the first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in three decades.

The new law is the most significant federal legislation to address gun violence since the assault weapons ban of 1994.

Biden, however, acknowledged that the law falls far short of what he and his party had advocated for to stop the alarming frequency of shootings in the US.

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