District of Columbia police on Wednesday charged three men who they say were in a car whose driver led officers on a high-speed chase as a passenger opened fire with a Mac-11 gun in downtown Washington.
Noone was struck by the gunfire, which police said occurred as the pursuit entered the Third Street Tunnel near the U.S. Capitol complex, which was forced into lockdown for about an hour Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities identified the arrested men as Keyante Edwards, 19, of Washington, who was charged with assault on a police officer, carrying a gun without a license and discharging a firearm; Alpha Jalloh, 18, of Southwest, charged with fleeing from police, reckless driving, being in a vehicle with a firearm and resisting arrest; and Keith Jones, 20, of Washington, charged with being in a vehicle with a firearm and resisting arrest.
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered Edwards and Jalloh detained until a preliminary hearing Friday. Jones was released pending a hearing on the same date.
Tuesday’s incident forced hundreds of congressional staffers and visitors to several buildings on Capitol Hill to shelter in place. The security measures were taken in part because police said one of the men in the car briefly escaped after it crashed near the Capitol.
Police have said they do not think the gunman was targeting the Capitol.
The incident began shortly after 4 p.m., when officers responded near the Southwest Waterfront Park to a report of a man with a gun running across a parking lot and getting inside a silver Toyota sedan.
Police said the officers saw a man fitting the description inside the car, which sped away, prompting the pursuit. Police said officers chased the car, which they alleged was driven by Jalloh, onto South Capitol Street, which divides the southeast and southwest areas of D.C., and into downtown Washington. As they approached the Third Street Tunnel, police said, a passenger, identified in court documents as Edwards, reached through a window and opened fire with the Mac-11 on pursuing officers.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the bullets missed, and officers did not return fire. Police said the gunman lost his grip on the weapon, and it fell onto the street inside the tunnel. The car continued to speed on, but police said the driver lost control as he emerged from the tunnel near C Street near the Capitol, and crashed into a guardrail and stopped.
Police said Jones and Jalloh were arrested at the scene, Police said Edwards escaped by jumping from the crashed car and running to a nearby Metro train. Police said he was caught on P Street SW after he emerged from the Waterfront station, near the neighborhood where the chase had begun.
