DC teen arrested in shooting block from charter school after being turned away by school resource officer

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Washington, D.C., police arrested a 15-year-old on Wednesday for allegedly shooting and wounding two fellow students just a block away from the public charter school the three teens attended as classmates. 

D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said the shooting was reported before 10 a.m. at the intersection of Lee Street and 45th Street about a block from IDEA Public Charter School. The teen suspect and two victims had been turned away from the school by a resource officer that morning. 

One was not dressed in the proper uniform, while the two others, including the shooting suspect, had refused to pass through the charter school’s security checkpoint, Contee said, according to FOX 5 DC.

The three then left school grounds and got into an altercation a block away. The 15-year-old pulled out a firearm and shot the other two teens, who were transported to a nearby hospital. The accused shooter was taken into custody and charges against him remain pending. 

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D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee addresses the media after a shooting outside IDEA Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. (FOX 5 DC)

"This is what we see happen when young people are in possession of firearms," Contee said. "I think incidents like this really underscores the importance of having our school resource officers who are able to really interact with young people in the schools." 

Currently, the District of Columbia has 60 school officers that operate in a cluster model, but Contee said each year for the next three years, the city — in the wake of the liberal defund the police movement — unfortunately still plans to cut that number by 20 until all the roles are eliminated. 

IDEA Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. (FOX 5 DC)

The chief also addressed the rising problem of youth gun violence and crime.

The scene of a shooting that left two juveniles wounded outside IDEA Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.  (FOX 5 DC)

"When you’re taking them (guns) off of children … off of children 15 years of age, who decide that the best way to resolve a dispute is to pull a gun and shoot somebody in front of a school — that’s unacceptable, and I don’t care how old you are, you have to be held accountable," Contee said. "Sure, we want to make sure that services are offered to families who need them, but somebody’s child is in the hospital as a result of reckless gun violence in our city and we have to make sure there is accountability for that."

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In a separate incident Wednesday morning, Contee said several juveniles were inside a building in the 4700 block of Alabama Avenue — about a block and a half away from a different public school — when someone pulled out a gun and opened fire, sending one juvenile struck to the hospital. No arrests were immediately made in connection to that incident.