Shooting of Student Prompts Lockdowns

By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 22, 2006

A 10th-grader was shot in the leg near a high school in Columbia Heights yesterday, causing a three-hour lockdown at six D.C. public schools while police searched for possible gunmen, authorities said.

The student, who attends Cardozo Senior High, was shot about noon just steps away from the school, at 13th and Clifton streets NW. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, D.C. police said.

School officials said the victim is 16 years old, but police said he is 15.

Just before the shooting, there was an argument at the street corner, said 3rd District Cmdr. Larry McCoy. He said he did not know what the argument was about.

School officials said the victim reported to school yesterday morning and did not have permission to leave before classes ended.

Investigators quickly took into custody two men "of interest" to the case, said Inspector Patrick Burke, also of the 3rd District. Last night, police were still looking for the shooter, Burke said.

Witnesses said they heard as many as seven gunshots and saw three men running from the scene. The victim was struck once in the lower right leg, police said.

A trail of blood indicated that he ran to the main door of the school and collapsed in front of it.

Police and school officials, who did not identify the victim, said they knew of no ongoing trouble or conflicts involving the teenager.

"He's a good student," said Francisco Millet, a regional superintendent. "We're in a quandary about how and why it happened."

After the shooting, the school went into "shelter in place" for about three hours, meaning classroom doors were locked and nobody was allowed to enter or leave the school, Millet said. He put five other schools on the same status, including Meyer Elementary a block away, because a gunman was in the neighborhood, he said.

"The kids were great," Millet said. "They knew it was a shooting because many of them heard it."

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case was open, said investigators have a good chance of finding the gunman. The official said the school has surveillance cameras that probably recorded the crime, and police interviewed several eyewitnesses.

Police and school security officers surrounded the school during the search for the gunman.

When classes ended at 3:15 p.m., parents arrived to pick up their children and make sure they were safe. Charles Marshall said his stepdaughter had phoned and asked him to be there when she was let out. He said she usually goes home on her own.

"Of course this makes me nervous; she's my daughter," Marshall said. "This is very scary, especially when you're dealing with kids."

Deborah Gorman, who was walking home with her 15-year-old daughter, said she hopes the school will take more measures to protect the students. "They need better security," Gorman said.

Assistant Police Chief Gerald M. Wilson urged parents to make sure their children are in class during school hours. "Your children are safe," Wilson said in a message to parents. "But you need to keep them in school."

It was the second time in recent years that a Cardozo student was shot in the leg.

In 2003, a 16-year-old student was shot inside the school after a lunchtime argument with another student. The shooter fled but later turned himself in.

That shooting was captured by a school surveillance camera, and police found a handgun at the scene.

Staff writer Theola Labbé contributed to this report.