REGIONAL BRIEFING

CHARLES COUNTY

Two Men Fatally Shot During Fight

Two Indian Head men were fatally shot yesterday during a fight in a shopping center parking lot in Charles County, and two District residents were charged in the incident after authorities pursued the suspects into the city.

Mark A. Welcher, 25, of the 2800 block of Lanston Place SE and Donise Wiggins, 21, of the 400 block of Farragut Street NW were charged with being fugitives from justice and possessing a weapon without a license, authorities said.

Investigators said they think Welcher got into a fight with Shaun Johnson, 33, of Indian Head in the Bryans Road Shopping Center in Bryans Road.

Johnson's friend Delvin King, 33, also of Indian Head, entered the fray, trying to help him, said Capt. Joe Montminy of the Charles County Sheriff's Office. Welcher then is suspected of shooting both men near a Subway shop, Montminy said.

Welcher and Wiggins fled in a blue Pontiac Aztec to Prince George's County, then into the District, where their vehicle crashed into a pole at Alabama and 18th streets SE, authorities said. They tried to flee on foot but were arrested.

-- William Wan

Two People Hurt in Apartment Fire

A fire at a Waldorf apartment building injured two people yesterday and caused $1 million in damage, officials said. More than 40 firefighters from two counties responded to the blaze, which began just after 8 a.m. when grease ignited on a kitchen stove in a ground-floor unit.

Smoke alarms were not working, according to the state fire marshal's office.