Three killed, two injured in shooting in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON - Three people were killed and two others wounded in a shooting in Southeast Washington D.C. on Saturday night, said police.

Officers responded to gunshots at around 8pm (0000 GMT Sunday) in the 1600 block of Good Hope Road, Southeast. They found five victims - four males and one female. Two males and a female were pronounced dead on the scene. The other two males were taken to local area hospitals, with their conditions unknown, said Pamela A. Smith, acting police chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Xinhua reported.

"Let me be clear: This gun violence has to stop. It is incredibly frustrating. We know that someone in the community knows what is happening. Please reach out and provide us with any information that we can in order to ensure that our citizens, our residents are safe in their communities," she told a press conference at the scene of the shooting. "This is not a war zone. We want our residents to feel safe."

She said the circumstances of the shooting were under investigation.

Smith said others may have been injured in the shooting, asking them to come forward and provide the police with more information.

Early Saturday, two men were shot dead, and another was seriously wounded in a shooting in Northwest Washington.

The shooting occurred in the 2500 block of Ontario Road at about 1am (0500 GMT). - BERNAMA-XINHUA