WASHINGTON, D.C. | National Guard Member Shot While Breaking Up Fight Near Eastern Market; Man, 41, Charged

Author: FFP Ai Bot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man has been charged after a National Guard member was shot in the leg while troops tried to break up a fight near Eastern Market on Capitol Hill late Sunday night, Oct. 18, D.C. police said.

Police on Monday identified the man as Jerrell Jackson, 41, of Southeast D.C. He is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer and emergency personnel, carrying a pistol without a license, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, WTOP reported.

Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said Guard members were trying to break up a fight shortly after 11 p.m. when one of the people involved pulled out a gun and fired. “Members of the National Guard immediately gave commands to that individual to put down the gun,” Carroll said. “That individual then pointed the weapon towards the National Guard members, who returned fire to that individual.”

One Guard member was struck in the leg. A spokesperson for Joint Task Force-District of Columbia told WTOP the service member was treated at a hospital and released. Police said the suspect was also wounded. The task force, which oversees the Guard troops deployed in the city over the past year, said it is working with the Metropolitan Police Department, which is leading the investigation.

Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen said on X that the shooting happened outside Cafe 8, a restaurant and bar on 8th Street SE, and that the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration is also investigating. Allen called on regulators and police to use emergency powers to temporarily close the business, saying there has been a pattern of violence outside it on Barracks Row for a year and a half to two years. The business’s response was not included in the reports FFP reviewed.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was briefed overnight and again Monday morning, and referred most questions, including Allen’s call for a closure, to police. “There’s still guns on the street, and there’s still people willing to use them,” Bowser told reporters, while noting the city is on track for a historically low crime year.

The shooting was one of several in the District over the weekend, WTOP reported.

Video: NBC4 Washington via YouTube

The charges are accusations only. Jackson is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.

Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-shooting-washington-16a5059ef1c84487b40d13376928e263
https://wtop.com/dc/2026/10/national-guardsman-shot-while-breaking-up-fight-near-dcs-eastern-market/
https://mpdc.dc.gov/