Teen Bystander Wounded in D.C. Shootout

A 16-year-old bus passenger was wounded in the arm after a gun battle broke out between a liquor store owner and three robbers yesterday afternoon on a busy commuter route in Northeast Washington, D.C. police said.

The shootout took place about 1 p.m. after three masked robbers entered Rhode Island Liquors in the 1800 block of Hamlin Street NE, police said. Two of the men appeared to have guns, police said.

The men stole cash and ran out of the store while the shop's owner retrieved his own handgun, police said. As the robbers fled, the store owner opened fire, police said. They said the robbers apparently fired back.

One of the bullets pierced a Metrobus that was nearby on Rhode Island Avenue and hit the teenage passenger in the arm, police said. The youth was taken to a hospital where he was being treated last night. Authorities said his injuries were not life-threatening. No one else was wounded.

D.C. Police Cmdr. Jennifer Greene said that investigators were trying to find the robbers, who fled in a red Nissan Pathfinder. Detectives also were questioning the store owner last night. Authorities did not release the owner's name. No one answered the phone at the store last night.

Crime laboratory technicians were trying to determine which gun fired the bullet that wounded the teenager, and investigators were not sure last night how many shots were fired.

Greene said that investigators were also looking into whether the store owner possessed the handgun legally. District law prohibits ownership of handguns except for those who had the weapons before the restriction went into effect in the 1970s.