Club Is Temporarily Closed After Fatal Shooting Outside

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier used emergency powers to temporarily close a Northeast Washington nightclub yesterday after a man was killed and a woman was wounded in an apparent gun battle outside the venue.

The shooting happened about 4:20 a.m. yesterday near Club Envy, an establishment with a history of problems in the 2100 block of Queens Chapel Road, police said. An argument inside the club spilled outdoors, police said.

Investigators found 37 shell casings from at least two guns on the scene, including some from an AK-47 assault-style rifle. It was not known what started the argument, and no arrests had been made, police said.

Both victims were in a Ford Explorer when they were shot, the man in the head and the woman in the neck. Police did not identify either victim. The woman, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition, is considered a witness in the case.

Authorities said the two were shot during a gun battle that covered about a quarter of a mile. Some shell casings were found in the Ford Explorer, and police said they were attempting to determine whether the victims fired any shots. It was not clear, police said, whether the assailant or assailants were on foot or in another car.

"It was a chaotic scene," said Lanier, who was there for several hours after the shooting.

The club will be shut down for four days under a D.C. law that gives the police chief emergency powers to close nightspots for up to four days following violence.

This is the second time in recent months Lanier closed the nightclub for violence. She also acted after a Nov. 17 incident in which a group of people in front of the club shot toward police officers, causing officers to chase and arrest them.

Police said the club has been a regular source of trouble, with 77 calls for service there since January 2006. In the same time period, there have been 371 calls on that block for crimes such as assault, disorderly conduct and stolen cars, police said.

Police urged anyone with information about the shooting to call investigators at 202-727-9099.