Seven Wounded in Shooting at National Zoo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7235-2000Apr24.html
By Martin Weil and Cheryl W. Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday , April 25, 2000 ; A01
Six youths were shot at the National Zoo yesterday when a dispute escalated into gunfire, panicking visitors to one of Washington's premier tourist attractions at the conclusion of a day celebrating the
African American family.
One of the six, an 11-year-old boy, was hit in the back of the head and was brain dead, a police source said. He was being kept on life support at Children's Hospital so his organs could be donated, the
source said. The other youths' wounds were not regarded as life-threatening.
Some of the shots apparently were fired a few hundred feet inside the zoo, possibly near the visitors center, D.C. police said. They said shooting also broke out outside the entrance on Connecticut
Avenue NW, a major thoroughfare that runs through some of the city's most affluent neighborhoods.
No arrest was reported last night, and police said they were looking for one suspect.
No clear motive was immediately identified for the dispute and shootings, which took place on a day when D.C. schools were still on spring recess, and apparently involved two groups of youths. D.C.
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he understood zoo security officers were trying to expel unruly youths from the grounds when the shooting began.
Sgt. Joseph Gentile, a police spokesman, said the shootings might have been gang related; if they were, he said, it was not known whether any of the wounded youths had gang involvements. Nor, he
said, was it known if the youths had been involved in the disputes that preceded the shootings.
Police described the suspect they were looking for as a black teenager whose hair might have been plaited. He reportedly was wearing a black jacket and black shirt with baggy bluejeans. Police said he
was last seen headed south on Connecticut Avenue. Gentile said police were not certain whether shots were fired by more than one person.
The zoo will be closed today, officials said.
Connecticut Avenue was closed between Calvert and Macomb streets as police and agents from the Secret Service, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched for evidence. One source
said three shell casings had been found outside the zoo.
The wounded youths ranged in age from 11 to 15, Gentile said. Most of them were reported hit in the legs. In addition to the boy shot in the head, a girl and another boy also were taken to Children's
Hospital. Two boys were transported to Georgetown University Hospital and one to Washington Hospital Center.
The youths were not identified immediately. A security supervisor for the D.C. public schools, which reopen today, said his staff was working with police to identify the wounded.
The shootings sent tremors through the city. Ramsey said President Clinton was briefed. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) visited Children's Hospital.
Norton had tears in her eyes when she emerged. Vice President Gore evoked gasps from the audience at a Democratic fundraiser in New York when he announced the incident last night, the Associated
Press reported.
"It's a terrible, terrible tragedy," said zoo spokesman Robert Hoage.
Several visitors reported rowdy disputes and fistfights at the zoo at several times and places earlier in the day. At least one witness said the shootings stemmed from a dispute that had begun earlier and
resumed as the zoo was emptying.
Garrett Rothman, 28, who was walking past the zoo about 6 p.m., said he heard yelling and saw a bottle fly through the air. Next came gunshots.
"Then it was panic. People just flying all over, down the sidewalks. It was chaos," as people – parents and children, some with cheeks still covered with decorative paint from the day's activities
– fled onto the street.
A young woman in a building across the street from the zoo said she heard three gunshots and then saw a youth in a dark sweat shirt lying at the entrance. Everyone was "fleeing in all directions," she
said.
Sirens blaring, lights flashing, police cars and ambulances converged on the scene, and part of Connecticut Avenue, a major commuter artery as well as a prominent shopping and residential street, was
shut down.
The family day for African Americans at the zoo had existed for more than 100 years as an informal community tradition. It began at least partly because blacks felt excluded from the annual Easter egg
roll at the White House, which also is held on the Monday after Easter.
In 1993, the family day was made an official event. A zoo announcement said it was to run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature special attractions and educational activities for the city's African American
community. The schedule called for gospel, jazz and other music, as well as storytellers and African drummers. Also part of the festival were Easter egg hunts, an appearance by the Easter bunny, crafts
for children and demonstrations involving zoo animals.
Radio station WOL talk show host Joe Madison said that earlier in the day he had been urging African Americans to recognize the tradition of the day and attend the event at the zoo.
"It has always been a family gathering," he said. "I'm really concerned about the welfare of the young people who were shot. We really have to pray. This clearly speaks to the proliferation of guns in
our community."
Dale Williams, of Capitol Heights, attended the event with her family. She said she saw a fistfight break out between two teenagers near the gorilla exhibit.
She said she moved toward them to intercede. "I was going to ask them, 'Is this worth it?'‚" she said. But before she reached the youths, she said, they were surrounded by a crowd that urged them on
with cries of "Kick 'em!" and "Hit 'em!"
Within moments, she said, "there were so many people [involved in the fight] that you didn't know what was going on." Many people, she said, seemed to be trying to reach over the heads of others to
throw a punch.
"I grabbed my kids and ran into the gorilla house," she said. She said she remained inside, waiting for the combatants to disperse. She learned of the shooting long after it happened.
Joseph Green, of Southeast Washington, who had brought his family to the zoo, said that "throughout the day, kids were running around and yelling, 20 and 40 guys at a time."
He said that they "were just making a whole lot of noise" and that he believed that not enough security personnel were on hand.
Rowdiness had been reported previously in the area around the festival. Last year, police were called to stop a fight that broke out at a nearby fast-food restaurant.
As a result, police said the 2nd Police District assigned two crime-prevention squads to the neighborhood of the zoo for this year's Easter Monday event.
The zoo has its own police department. At least 10 zoo officers were on duty yesterday, according to D.C. police. Witnesses said they had seen zoo police make an arrest earlier in the day.
At Children's Hospital, Norton said that she believed security at the zoo was good and that there was no way officials could have anticipated such an incident. But when asked whether security needed to
be tightened, she said, "I hate to say so, but yes."
The following Washington Post staff writers contributed to coverage of the shootings at the National Zoo: Petula Dvorak, Hamil R. Harris, Spencer S. Hsu, Lyndsey Layton, Cindy Loose, Phuong
Ly, Sylvia Moreno and Arthur Santana.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
