11 hurt in shooting outside DC apartment building

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Eleven people were injured, including one seriously, after a drive-by shooting outside a D.C. apartment building early Monday, police said.

The shooting occurred around 2:45 a.m. in the area of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street when gunmen in two cars opened fire on a crowd standing outside an apartment building, police Chief Cathy Lanier said.

Detectives were reviewing surveillance video showing the vehicles and planned to release it to the public in hopes of generating leads on the shooters, she said. Police were looking for two cars — one an older-model dark BMW, the other a light or grey sedan.

The seriously wounded victim was shot in the back. None of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening, and the victims, who were either grazed by bullets or shot in the legs, hands or other extremities, were reported to be conscious and breathing.

Police said they didn't immediately know of a motive, and detectives were still interviewing witnesses and collecting bullet fragments and other evidence.

"We've got to interview a ton" of witnesses, said Peter Newsham, assistant police chief.

It wasn't immediately clear why the crowd was standing outside at that time of day, though Lanier said a club across the street had let out about 15 minutes earlier.

"Whether they came from the club, I'm not sure," Lanier said. "There is usually a pretty good crowd out here — Saturday night, Sunday night."