WUSA9 reports that three teenagers have apparently been shot in different locations near Congress Heights Elementary School in Ward 8.

According to MPD, "one shooting occurred in the 500 block of Alabama SE. The second shooting happened in the 3300 block of 4th St SE. The third happened in the 800 block of Wheeler Hill SE." Only one victim has life-threatening injuries. The shootings happened at the same time this morning—9:33—which suggests to police that they were connected.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Pentagon, Defend Thyself: When building a massive military office complex in northern Virginia, the Pentagon's designers probably figured there wasn't any reason to deck the place out like an actual fort; it's been almost 200 years since the British sacked Washington, so why put big guns on the Defense Department headquarters to repel invaders? The answer came, a bit belatedly, early this morning: Because without them, some random wacko might shoot out the windows. (No one was hurt.) -3

Bikesharing is Caring: Looking at the Capital Bikeshare station map, there's a distinct paucity of places to pick up the red-and-yellow cruisers east of Capitol Hill. District officials want to change that—but plans for a station near Lincoln Park are, apparently, causing tears and rumored death threats in the neighborhood. Of course, the reason Bikeshare can't put a station in Lincoln Park itself is that the National Park Service owns it. Yet another reason to wish for real Home Rule. -2

Let Them Eat Cake: Turns out feeding poor kids healthy meals is about as popular as raising taxes. Or at least that's the impression given by hundreds of angry comments on a Washington Post story reporting on expanded free meal programs in D.C. Public Schools. Someone should find out who's posting all the vitriol, track them down offline, and steal their milk money. -2

Trick or Treat: For kids, Halloween typically means gorging on candy. For some adults, Halloween typically means gorging on booze. Happily, the SoberRide program—on financial life support earlier in the year—will once again provide free cab rides around the holiday, up to a $30 trip on Saturday, Oct. 30. Which means your costume can be something besides a drunk driver. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 37 Today's score: -5 Today's Needle rating: 32

Metropolitan Police Department officials say one man was found dead in the SUV, and two other shooting victims were taken to area hospitals.

Once the shots were fired, most of the mourners at the funeral ran. Others were left stranded on T Street, as many had parked along the  blocked off sections of U Street. The scene near the shooting was chaotic afterwards. Residents, employees of nearby businesses, and people from the funeral milled around as police began an investigation. The crowd hovered along a stretch of police tape, trying catch a glimpse of the upended SUV.

Near 12th and T, a throng of distraught funeral-goers gathered, trying to make sense of the onslaught of tragedies. Among this group were McRae's cousins and friends. McRae, who lived in Columbia Heights, was found dead last weekend near Fort Stanton Park; days later, Damon Antonio Sams, 22, was charged with second-degree murder. A friend of McRae's, Antonio Bryant, sounded angry, both about McRae's death and the shooting today. "I guess this is just life on U Street," he said.

MPD don't believe the drive-by shooting was a retaliation for McRae's death. But the crowd at the funeral seemed to know exactly who was responsible.

Watch video from the scene here:

Scott Fike, a 25-year veteran of the department, shot the dog, named Parrot, after intervening in an altercation between two dogs on 18th Street. Aaron Block, the 25-year old caretaker of the dog and a Dupont Circle resident, said Parrot was "a full 12 to 15 steps away," and was "making no aggressive overtures," according to the Washington Post.

Police, festival attendees, and store owners shared conflicting perspectives on the use of force during the incident. MPD justified the shooting by saying the dog acted aggressively even after being subdued, but some witnesses want more evidence to justify the officer's actions. Even the breed of the dog has been the subject of great debate: police say the dog was a pit bull, and others say it was a mixed-breed shar pei—a dog that looks like a pit bull to the untrained eye, but which doesn't have the violent reputation of the other breed.

Block was walking the 2-year old dog on 18th Street NW when Parrot turned around and bit a poodle going in the opposite direction. Block said he helped separate the dogs and was restraining Parrot when the police arrived.

Fike took over from that point and originally subdued Parrot by putting his knee in the dog's back and pulling his hind legs behind him. Fike then took the dog by his nape and threw him over the banister of the Brass Knob antique shop, according to the Post, but was "led down the stairwell of the Brass Knob," according to a report from DCist. According to Block, Fike fired the lone shot right after the dog became upright again.

Witnesses had various perspectives of the incident, some of which said the officer acted hastily and outside of protocol. Other said the officer's actions were justified. Jacob Kishter, commander of the 3rd Police District, told the Post "that once the officer pushed the dog down the stairwell, 'the dog immediately turns and runs at the officer aggressively.'" Kishter said the officer, owners of both dogs, and other officers were interviewed about the incident and that Fike's actions were justified based on information MPD gathered.

Soleiman Askarinam, owner of Spaghetti Garden on 18th Street, spoke with both the Post and DCist, and said an overall peaceful day was "sadly punctuated" by dogs barking, a shot, and screams.

The neighbors don’t make much distinction between the Bennett stoop and the corner. They just see blobs of black men. Heads and shoulders. Skullcaps and puffy coats. Through cracked blinds, natural obstacles such as trees, and man-made ones such as speed-limit signs, the neighbors down Euclid Street can make out shapes and shadows, bunches of them.

Read the whole piece here.

According to an e-mail sent to an Adams Morgan online message board, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham said police believe that the victim was "affiliated with the 1-7 gang/crew." Graham warned that this shooting could spark a reprisal:

In consideration of possible retaliation, police patrols have been bolstered in the area and on the 1400 block of Girard.

DCist's/We Love DC's Dave Stroup reported last night that one of Graham's challengers in the September Democratic primary, Bryan Weaver, was on the scene and "and expressed worry that this might have something to do with recent murder arrests."

Break out the bongos, hippies! Monday marks the summer solstice, when the sun hits its highest angle of the year. Expect highs in the 90s with a strong chance of drum circles. The annual astronomical event means summer has now officially arrived. And D.C. cops are, naturally, quite busy. Tis the season for peak crime, after all (curfew at 11 p.m., kids): WaPo reports on fatal shootings in Brightwood and Washington Highlands over the weekend–one following a go-go concert on Georgia Avenue. Just last night, police responded to two additional shootings and an armed carjacking. WUSA-TV also reports of a possible Father's Day "riot" at the Laurel, Md., youth detention facility that houses the District's most violent juvenile offenders.

The Post today dishes up a infuriating tale of how the alleged perpetrators of a string of gold burglaries, targeting Indian and South Asian families in Northern Virginia, are walking free: "The case imploded through a combination of bad luck, smart criminals and savvy defense lawyers." Despite making seven arrests, police have not recovered a single piece of stolen property:

"This is absolutely a joke," said Jaya Sapre, a Fairfax woman whose family lost more than $20,000 in gold and high-end jewelry.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty finished in 16th place out of more than 2,000 participants in the city's first triathlon over the weekend. No reports of booing from the sidelines. 

Metro officials are planning a 10 a.m. ceremony Tuesday at Fort Totten Park to remember the victims of last year's deadly rail crash on the red line. Some politicians are taking the opportunity to call for national transit-safety standards.

Video of Summer Solstice Fest 2009 in Malcolm X / Meridian Hill Park by rkcrawf/YouTube

"One victim was a 16-year-old District youth and the other was a 36-year-old Clinton man. The shootings occurred within an hour and 10 minutes, one in the 5900 block of Georgia Avenue in the Brightwood section of Northwest and the other miles away in the 800 block of Yuma Street in the Washington Highlands section of Southeast."

One of three victims shot in Brightwood, Jamaal Bell of First Street NW, was killed at around 11:30 p.m. Bell had just left a nearby go-go concert. The concert ended early due to fights.

"A group of young people, many of them described as teenagers, began walking away from the scene of the concert, heading south along Georgia Avenue. Just below Peabody Street, near Missouri Avenue NW, they encountered a larger group of about 50 people who had gathered there, police said. According to a preliminary investigation, shots were fired toward the smaller group. Bell was hit in the head. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said."

Cops were likely at the scene pretty quickly, as the concert had been included in MPD's somewhat enigmatic "go-go report". The internal report tracks scheduled go-go concerts, which cops the monitor in hopes of heading-off trouble between beefing gangs that decide to attend. Some District politicians and residents have long maintained that D.C.'s homegrown musical form attracts violence. No one seems to know what methods the cops use to keep abreast of the events. Chief Cathy Lanier tells City Desk via email that the Georgia Avenue corridor concert Bell was attending included three bands and had been discussed Friday morning in an "a.m. crime brief." There were five officers and a sergeant working the event, Lanier reports.

An argument ensued "over the quality of marijuana being sold," the warrant says. During that argument, Herbert Arrington allegedly pulled out a silver revolver and started shooting, wounding the three men sitting in the car with him, one in the neck. Arrington was arrested Tuesday morning. Two of the victim's sustained life-threatening wounds and a third was seriously hurt.

In another move to boost liquidity: Lawmakers will allow D.C. liquor stores to open for business on July 4, a Sunday, when such beloved neighborhood institutions are normally closed. Naturally, not everyone supports the holiday exemption to the rule. The Post quotes Councilmember Yvette Alexander griping, "the Jack Daniels and the firecrackers – that's not a good mix."

WTOP reports from the BP fill-up station at 7605 Georgia Avenue NW, where owner Shahzad Aslam claims to have lost 40 percent of gasoline sales since the oil spill fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. "[Even though it's] a BP gas station, BP is not directly involved," Shahzad tells WTOP. Still, protesters have picketed his pumps, "apparently unaware their efforts were doing more damage to a local business owner and his employees than an international oil giant."

In other news: WUSA-TV reports that police have identified a fatal shooting victim found in Fort Dupont Park on June 9 as 43-year-old Don Diego Jones of Temple Hills, an opera singer with the National Orchestra. Police have also arrested a Southeast D.C. man in connection to a triple shooting in Shaw last week, according to the Post.

Expect afternoon thunderstorms in the "strong to severe" range, with the "main threats being damaging winds and perhaps large hail," say forecasters with WJLA-TV. Sunshine returns tomorrow.

Video by DCWASAPublicAffairs/YouTube

"While they investigate, police have closed 8th Street NW between and V Street and Barry Place, near a Howard dormitory and the 9:30 club. Southbound lanes of Georgia Avenue are closed at Barry Place," says the Post." The ages, genders and condition of the three injured people were not immediately known."

A police source tells City Desk none of the three victims are Howard University students and that one of them is in serious condition while the other two are in stable condition. The source also says cops have not been able to interview the victims and so don't yet know what motivated the shootings.

Charging papers filed today at the arraignment of alleged gunman Omare Ishmael Cotton, aka "Spade," 28, indicate the suspect and victim got into several fights prior to the murder.

A witness cited in the documents points to Cotton as the instigator. The witness says Cotton was angry with Sutton for denying him and his girlfriend a ride in his car.

Not satisfied with fisticuffs, Cotton went after his victim's vehicle, the charging papers say. On May 7, the witness saw Cotton slash Sutton's tires on two separate occasions. Following the slashings, Cotton pursued Sutton with a knife. But when Sutton flagged down a police car, Cotton slipped away. Sutton didn't report the altercation to police.

The next day, court papers show, Sutton tried to change the tires Cotton had ruined. Cotton "appeared suddenly  in the block and approached the decedent and again began to assault the decedent," according to the documents. Cotton then threatened to kill Sutton, indicating that he was angry with the young intern for getting him in trouble with police, as Cotton was on probation.

Following that incident, three witnesses say, a man loosely fitting Cotton's description chased Sutton into a wooded area in the 200 block of Newcomb Street SE. A few minutes later, the man emerged from the area alone.

A day later, cops discovered Sutton's bullet-ridden body.

According to court documents, the names of the suspects arrested for a shooting that took place at 17th and Euclid Streets NW last week, which seemingly targeted people sitting on a well-known stoop there, are Daniel Martin and Derek Brawner. Brawner was incorrectly identified as Derrick Warner in an email Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham sent to constituents about the shooting on April 2nd.

Police believe Martin and Brawner committed a drive-by while riding a blue moped. Charging documents say Martin and Brawner were caught on camera:"The Video showed one male driving [the scooter] and the other male riding on the back with his arm raised apparently doing the shooting towards 1701 Euclid Street N.W."  Interestingly, that evidence isn't taken from the D.C. police crime-camera located just across the street from the stoop. It's from a camera attached to Cupid Cleaners—a business nearby. It makes sense that a camera at the cleaners would catch something. Interviewed the day of the shooting, a person working there said she'd heard shots.

Cops haven't yet responded to an inquiry regarding what the crime-camera picked up. But one wonders if the camera ended up being useless.

Another potential technical glitch? MPD had one of the suspects on GPS monitoring. But while the tracking device places the suspect at the scene around the time of the shooting, it records him as traveling eastbound on Euclid Street, while the shooters traveled westbound.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery