A US Park Police officer was seriously wounded in an apparent ambush shooting in Washington D.C. on Monday evening.
Park Police Chief Scott Brecht told reporters the unidentified officer was “ambushed” by two gunmen who fired at his unmarked white Tesla. He was working on an ongoing Park Police investigation when shot. The chief declined specifics of the inquiry, but noted the force has “jurisdiction in all of Washington, D.C.”
The veteran officer was airlifted by U.S. Park Police helicopter to an area hospital, said Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department. The call came in about 7:30 p.m.
A law enforcement official, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, confirmed the officer was shot in the shoulder and is in serious but stable condition.
Authorities are searching for two suspects, Chief Brecht added.
The U.S. Park Police confirmed in an email that the officer was in “non-life-threatening condition.”
The shooting took place in the District’s Southeast quadrant, close to the border with Maryland.
Jeffery Carroll, Washington’s interim police chief, said the officer was targeted. “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,” he said. “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.”
Federal officials said they were assisting in the investigation.
“I’ve spoken to Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Carroll and was briefed on the shooting,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a posting on X.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in his own X post that he was “Praying for the Park Police officer shot in Washington, D.C. The FBI is actively supporting the investigation alongside our law enforcement partners and will bring those responsible to justice.”
