Teenager Held in Southeast Drive-By

Five People, Ages 17 to 20, Were Hit In Jan. 11 Attack

D.C. police have arrested a teenager in a drive-by shooting that wounded five young people in Southeast Washington this month and said he is also a "strong person of interest" in the shooting of four Ballou High School students Tuesday.

Deidrick Johnson, 17, was arrested Wednesday night and charged as an adult with five counts of assault with intent to kill, police said yesterday. The victims, ages 17 to 20, were hit by bullets Jan. 11 as they walked in the 2800 block of Douglass Road SE.

Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned in D.C. Superior Court today.

He has not been charged in the Ballou shooting -- also an afternoon drive-by -- that happened a block and a half from the school as students were leaving for the day. There was a crowd of about 200 people on the street when that attack occurred.

At an afternoon news conference yesterday, Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes said that she had spoken to Johnson after his arrest and that he was "a strong person of interest" in the Ballou case. But investigators said Johnson is not their only suspect.

In the Ballou incident, two boys and two girls, all 16-year-old students, were hit by the gunfire in the 3300 block of Fourth Street SE.

All nine people wounded in the two drive-by shootings have been released from hospitals, police said.

The attacks took place about two miles apart, not far from the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus.

"There is nothing more disturbing than someone shooting at random young people in a crowd," D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said.

She added that police are looking at Johnson in connection with several crimes, but she did not elaborate.

D.C. court records show Johnson has not been charged with other adult crimes.

Groomes, a police official who often spends time on the street, helped catch Johnson, Lanier said. Groomes had put together a group of officers to look for Johnson on Wednesday night in Southeast Washington, and she joined the group. Shortly after hitting the street, she and the officers spotted Johnson. They gave chase and caught him in the 1200 block of Stevens Road.