The Metropolitan Police Department had closed the event, known as Moechella, a free street festival near the city’s culturally historic corner of 14th and U Streets Northwest, after violence earlier in the night, including an altercation between attendees, police said. As police and emergency medical personnel cleared the area to treat those injured while fleeing the riot, “several people were shot,” Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee III told a news conference late Sunday. Chief Contee said the police officer who was shot is expected to recover and that the other two adults are in stable condition. He did not say whether any suspects or suspects were in custody. The circumstances of the shooting remained unclear late Sunday, but he said police did not fire their weapons. Chief Contee said he wanted to ensure that people would be held accountable for holding unlicensed events. “This is one of the reasons we do not want unauthorized events in our city,” he said. “Unfortunately, such things can happen when you have the wrong combination of people or people inserting firearms into a situation.” The chief expressed disappointment with the number of illegal firearms in the area, noting that police had discovered several such weapons earlier in the night. “Illegal firearms in the hands of people who should not have them make such events dangerous for people who just want to enjoy the beautiful weather, who want to enjoy Father’s Day, who want to enjoy our city,” he said. The shooting took place at a festival that The Washington City Paper described as “a free event led by the band full of black culture and passion for gentrification”. The newspaper said the name of the event combines slang for boyfriend, “moe”, with the name of the Coachella music festival. The event’s organizer, Justin Johnson, who is also a rapper and activist known as Yaddiya, was not immediately available for comment. “We are doing something for people who are inclusive,” he told City Paper. “I do not really feel it is a June event if you charge a lot for it.” The shooting erupted after a series of high-profile gunshots, including two massacres in May: one at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. and a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket in which a white gunman killed 10 blacks. Earlier this month, a brawl turned a crowded Philadelphia street into a scene of terror after two men pulled out their guns and started firing wildly at each other. When the shootings ended, three people were killed and 12 others were injured.
