3 Wounded in Shootout Near Anacostia Metro

A 53-year-old Metrobus driver was grazed in the head by a stray bullet during a shootout near the Anacostia Metro station yesterday afternoon. Two teenagers, both suspected of firing shots, also were wounded, D.C. police said.

The youths tried to run away, but police caught them within minutes near the Southeast Washington station. They were hospitalized last night, as was the driver, a 22-year Metro veteran. None of the injuries is thought to be life-threatening, officials said.

The gunfire began at 12:45 p.m. at the busy station, in the 1100 block of Howard Road SE. The shots apparently stemmed from a dispute that began near the station, which has bus service and Metrorail service on the Green Line.

The teenagers opened fire in the bus bay, where the stray shot hit the bus driver, who was standing outside his vehicle, police said. The gunfire continued as the teenagers ran along nearby Sheridan Street, police said. One teenager was shot in the chest and thigh and the other in the arm.

Two police officers heard the shots and chased the teenagers, catching one about a block from the station and the other three blocks away, police said. Cmdr. Joel Maupin, who heads the 7th Police District, said officers recovered a gun from each of the teenagers and found shell casings in the area.

Authorities did not identify the Metro driver because he is considered a witness. They have not released the names of the teenagers, who have been charged with firearms counts. It was unclear whether they were charged as adults.

Last night, investigators were trying to determine whether the teenagers had just gotten off the driver's bus and how many times they fired their weapons, police said. "We're going to have to do some ballistics tests," Maupin said.

Police suspect that an unarmed person also was involved in the argument but have not found him.

The bus driver was operating a shuttle that ferried passengers from the station, whose elevator is broken, to adjacent stations with operating elevators, Metro spokeswoman Taryn McNeil said.

The Anacostia Station has frequently drawn police attention. In November, Timothy Spicer, a 25-year-old short-order cook at Ben's Chili Bowl, was found fatally shot there after a carjacking. In March 2004, a quarrel between two men escalated into a fatal shooting on an idling bus outside the station, also in the early afternoon.

The station was the only one in the District to appear on Metro's list of top 10 high-crime stations last year. There were 32 robberies there last year, most committed by groups of juveniles who snatched iPods and other electronics after school, Metro officials said.

In 2003, a Metrobus driver was wounded when a stray shot pierced his windshield during a gun battle in the Mount Pleasant area of Northwest. Police said the shooting stemmed from a gang fight, and an alleged gang member was killed in the attack.