A 41-year-old Southeast Washington man with prior convictions for assaulting police officers has been charged with shooting a National Guard member who was trying to break up a street fight on Capitol Hill late Sunday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
D.C. police identified the suspect Monday as Jerrell Jackson and said he was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer and emergency personnel, carrying a pistol without a license, and felon in possession of a firearm, according to an MPD news release. The charges are allegations, and Jackson has not been convicted in the shooting.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Internal Affairs Bureau and the First District Detective Unit are investigating a National Guard-involved shooting that occurred late Sunday in Southeast, D.C.
Read more: https://t.co/mi4DrbTLB5 https://t.co/XS6wxm6wmD
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) October 19, 2026
What police say happened
The shooting happened at about 11:10 p.m. Sunday in the 400 block of 8th Street SE, in the Barracks Row corridor near Eastern Market, according to MPD. Police said Guard members assigned to patrol the corridor saw a fight outside an establishment and tried to stop it when a man involved in the fight pulled a gun and began shooting.
The Guard members ordered the man to drop the weapon, police said, but he tried to run while firing toward them and struck one Guard member. Three Guard members returned fire and hit the suspect, who was held until MPD officers arrived, according to the department’s release.
D.C. Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said a group of seven to eight Guard members was patrolling the area in a van when they noticed the fight, FOX 5 DC reported. The Guard member was shot in the leg, and Jackson was hit in the abdomen, according to FOX 5 DC and Fox News, citing police and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Firefighters at a nearby fire station heard the gunfire, ran to help and pulled the wounded soldier and the suspected gunman inside the station, NBC Washington reported. Both men were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said, and a spokesperson for the D.C. Joint Task Force told 7News that the Guard member has been treated and released.
A long record
The U.S. Marshals Service said Jackson had previously been convicted of two counts of assault on a police officer and one count of carrying a pistol without a license, and had three parole violations, Fox News reported. Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Jackson has faced at least 13 prior criminal cases or arrests in the District dating back to 2004, though some were dismissed or resolved through diversion, the outlet reported.
Investigators recovered a gun in an alley next to the scene along with at least 14 shell casings, according to the Marshals Service account cited by Fox News. MPD released a photo of the recovered firearm with its serial number redacted.
“We are praying this National Guard member has a quick and speedy recovery,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The suspect in the shooting has a lengthy rap sheet including two counts of assault of a police officer, illegally carrying a pistol, and multiple parole violations.”
Bis also credited the president’s D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force with driving down violent crime in the capital, according to Fox News. The Marshals Service said the task force has made more than 18,000 arrests and seized nearly 2,200 illegal guns, the outlet reported.
What comes next
The Guard-involved shooting is being investigated by MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau Force Investigations Team, which reviews all law enforcement shootings in the District, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will independently review the evidence, according to the department. Officials have not identified the wounded Guard member, citing privacy and the ongoing investigation, Fox News reported.
Police asked anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/mpd-investigating-national-guard-involved-shooting-southeast
- https://www.foxnews.com/us/repeat-offender-accused-shooting-national-guard-member-lengthy-history-law-records-show
- https://www.fox5dc.com/news/national-guard-member-shot-dc
- https://wjla.com/news/local/national-guard-member-identified-jerrell-jackson-8th-street-shooting-ois-joint-task-force-gun-violence-southeast-dc-washington-district-of-columbia-donald-trump
- https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/2-people-shot-in-eastern-market-including-a-national-guard-member/4169019/
- https://wtop.com/dc/2026/10/national-guardsman-shot-while-breaking-up-fight-near-dcs-eastern-market/
Sources
- Original post: DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) on X, Oct 19, 2026
Posts on X are shown as published by their authors; claims in them are attributed, not independently confirmed unless the article says so. If an embedded post does not load, these links open the originals.