An 11-year-old boy was left brain-dead and five other children were wounded when a scuffle between feuding teens at the crowded National Zoo in Washington erupted in gunfire last night, officials said.
“We are looking into the possibility that it is gang-related, but we are not certain,” Police Chief Charles Ramsey said.
Witnesses reported the teenagers clashed at the main entrance to the zoo, which was jammed with visitors marking African-American Family Celebration Day, a century-old Easter Monday tradition.
“It looked like a riot – a pack of people running everywhere,” said Michael Hatcher, 19. Shortly after 6 p.m., a bottle was thrown, someone pulled out a gun and shots rang out.
“They sounded like firecrackers, lots of them,” said a 17-year-old zoo employee.
Six children, ages 11 to 16, were hit. Police were searching for at least one teenage gunman.
Nakisha Johnson, 17, said she saw one young man open fire on a group of rivals and believed the children shot were bystanders.
“He was just shooting at the people he was fighting,” she said.
An 11-year-old boy shot in the head was rushed to Children’s Hospital. He was declared brain dead, but was being kept on life support to allow his organs to be donated, a police official said.
A 12-year-old shot in the leg and a 14-year-old hit in the lower back were in critical but stable condition there.
A 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy were in stable condition at Georgetown University Medical Center with leg wounds. Another teen was at Washington Hospital Center.