Two minors were stabbed in the park during a fight at around 7 p.m. A man was shot immediately south of the circle at around 7:52.
WASHINGTON — DC Police were investigating a shooting and a stabbing in Dupont Circle Saturday evening, just hours after the District had agreed to reopen its park amid an outcry during WorldPride.
Police had reported that two minors had been stabbed and one man had been shot in the foot, Saturday evening.
By 11 p.m., officers had cleared out from some of the surrounding streets, while setting up barrier tape around the perimeter of the park.
Metro Transit Police had asked people at around 7:30 p.m. to avoid the streets surrounding the park as the investigation unfolded.
“Crowds around the circle MUST disperse,” the Metropolitan Police Department posted, with officers shutting down the 19th Street entrance at Dupont Circle’s Metro station during its investigation. However, Metro said its Q Street entrance and escalator were still open Saturday night.
At 8 p.m., crowds could be seen running away on Massachusetts Avenue and Dupont Circle, as EMS crews raced toward the scene.
Officers said the stabbing happened at around 7 p.m. after two underage boys got into a fight inside the park. Both of the minors were taken to the hospital and described by MPD as “conscious and breathing,” Saturday night.
The shooting happened at 7:52 p.m., according to MPD on the 1300 block of 19th Street, immediately south of the circle. A man was shot in the foot and taken to the hospital, MPD also described his condition as “conscious and breathing.”
From celebration to violence
The shooting and stabbing happened as crowds gathered in the area for WorldPride celebrations and hours after the festival’s parade wrapped up Saturday afternoon.
Dupont Circle had been scheduled to close ahead of this weekend, with law enforcement originally fencing off the park perimeter on Friday. The National Park Service said this would serve as a safety precaution during WorldPride celebrations.
However, not everyone in the area saw the fence the same way with some arguing that the perimeter sent the wrong message to the LGBTQ+ community during WorldPride.
The Dupont Circle’s Advisory Neighborhood commissioner and many others who live and work around the park rallied for the park to reopen. With ANC Jeff Rueckgauer, calling the fence, a “betrayal of the gay community.”
Eventually, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the National Park Service relented and agreed to take the fencing down Saturday morning before the WorldPride parade began.
This is a developing story, WUSA9 is reaching out to sources for more information.
