D.C. Police Seek Information on Shooting

An unidentified man was fatally shot early this morning in the District's Shaw neighborhood, police said. He was found just after 6 a.m., in the parking lot of a church day-care center that had not yet opened for the day.

The man, whose name was withheld until his next of kin could be notified, was taken to Howard University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police were investigating whether the man was shot as he climbed over the chain-link fence that surrounds the parking lot of the Christian Tabernacle Church of God. The church is at 10th and V streets NW and operates an on-site center for 74 children.

Detectives cordoned off the crime scene with yellow police tape until nearly 10 a.m., looking for evidence as youngsters arrived at the day-care center and, across the street, at Garnet-Patterson Middle School.

Both the school and the center opened on schedule. Police said there is no indication that students were involved in the shooting.

A witness told WRC (Channel 4) that he heard four gunshots and found a man lying just inside the fence, still breathing.

Police are searching for a silver car, perhaps a Nissan or Honda, that was seen leaving the area shortly after the shooting.

The car is reported to have Virginia tags with license plate number JZG5667, police said.