A D.C. National Guard member was shot in the leg late Sunday after Guard members stepped in to break up a fight on Capitol Hill, and the gunman was wounded when Guard members returned fire, according to Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll.
Both the Guard member and the suspect are expected to survive, Carroll said at a news conference early Monday, according to WJLA 7News. The suspect is hospitalized in police custody, WJLA reported.
BREAKING: A street fight in Washington, D.C., turns into a shooting involving National Guard troops.
Guard members attempted to break up the confrontation Sunday night when a suspect opened fire, striking one of the troops, according to police.
The Guard members returned fire,… pic.twitter.com/pg0uCu7wt6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 19, 2026
The shooting happened around 11:10 p.m. Sunday in the 400 block of 8th Street SE, in the Eastern Market neighborhood, according to WJLA.
Guard members got out of their van to stop a fight
About seven or eight Guard members were sitting in a van when they saw a fight break out on the sidewalk and got out to intervene, Carroll said, according to WJLA. A person involved in the fight then pulled out a gun and began shooting, according to Carroll.
Guard members ordered the man to drop the weapon, Carroll said. “The National Guard members told the individual to drop the firearm. He discharged a round at the National Guard members who returned fire at that suspect,” Carroll said, according to WJLA.
The confrontation started on the sidewalk near an alley entrance and moved into the alley, where the suspect fired at Guard members again, Carroll said, according to WJLA.
Three Guard members fired their weapons, and investigators have not yet determined whose round struck the suspect, Carroll said, according to WJLA.
The suspect was hit in the abdominal area, WJLA reported. Guard members began rendering aid after the gunfire, and D.C. Fire and EMS crews from a nearby firehouse quickly assisted, Carroll said, according to WJLA.
What police still don’t know
Preliminary information indicates the fight involved people who had been inside a nearby establishment earlier in the evening, but what started it remains under investigation, according to WJLA. Police are not looking for another shooter but want to speak with people involved in the fight and witnesses who left after the gunfire, Carroll said, according to WJLA. He did not announce specific charges against the suspect, WJLA reported.
MPD’s Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigations Division are investigating, and Carroll said there is no further threat to the community, according to WJLA. ABC News also reported that D.C. police are investigating a shooting that injured a Guard member.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411, according to WJLA.
Sources
- Fox News on X: Street fight in Washington turns into shooting involving National Guard troops
- Metropolitan Police Department on X: Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll’s on-scene briefing
- WJLA 7News: National Guard member shot in DC while intervening in fight; suspect also wounded
- ABC News: National Guard member injured in DC shooting, police say
Sources cited
- https://wjla.com/news/local/washington-dc-national-guard-member-suspect-shooting-southeast-eighth-street-se-fight-gunfire-jeffery-carroll-metropolitan-police-department-christian-flores-wounded-leg-abdomen-arrest-investigation-internal-affairs-capitol-hill-eastern-market
- https://abcnews.com/US/dc-police-investigating-shooting-involving-national-guard-member/story?id=137370551
Sources
- Original post: Fox News (@FoxNews) on X, Oct 19, 2026
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