The shooting happened at about 11:10 p.m. Sunday as seven or eight guard members in a parked van were monitoring the fight on a sidewalk in southeast Washington, in the Eastern Market neighborhood, said Jeffery Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington.
“They exited their vehicle to try to intervene to try to stop the fight from occurring when they heard gunshots,” Carroll told reporters. “An individual that had been involved in the fight had pulled out a firearm and began shooting.”
The person ran into an alley, Carroll said, and guard members immediately told the person to drop the gun.
“The individual then pointed the weapon toward National Guard members, who returned fire,” Carroll said.
He said one guard member was struck in the leg and the suspect was shot in the abdomen. Both were taken to hospitals for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
Three guard members discharged their guns in the encounter, Carroll said. He said the suspect was arrested.
President Donald Trump deployed the guard to Washington in August 2025 as part of an effort to fight extensive crime in the nation's capitol. The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods and participated in cleanup efforts.
Trump’s Republican administration says the deployment has contributed to a decrease in crime in the city,
