A Sunday night fight on Barracks Row ended in gunfire, a wounded National Guardsman, and felony charges against a man who was already barred from having a gun at all.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the shooting happened on Sunday, October 18, 2026, at about 11:10 p.m. in the 400 block of 8th Street SE. National Guard members assigned to patrol the Barracks Row corridor saw a fight outside an establishment and moved in to break it up. One of the men involved in the fight pulled a firearm and started shooting. Guardsmen ordered him to drop the gun. Instead, he ran and kept firing toward them as he fled, striking one Guardsman in the leg. Three Guardsmen returned fire and wounded the suspect, who was detained at the scene until MPD officers arrived.
Both the Guardsman and the suspect were taken to area hospitals with injuries described as non-life-threatening. The suspect’s firearm was recovered at the scene.
MPD identified the suspect as 41-year-old Jerrell Jackson of Southeast, D.C. He is charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Gun), Assault on a Police Officer and Emergency Personnel, Carrying a Pistol without a License, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
Two of those charges say a lot on their own. The felon in possession charge means Jackson was already prohibited from possessing any firearm, and the carrying charge means he had no license for the pistol he is accused of firing. The laws that were supposed to keep a gun out of his hands were already on the books.
The shooting is now under investigation by MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau Force Investigations Team, which reviews all law enforcement officer-involved shootings in the District. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will also review the facts independently. Anyone with information about the case can call MPD at 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411.
Source: Metropolitan Police Department news release, October 19, 2026 (https://www.forth.news/lists/dcmpd/CgC6b2fNgL1PB88pcPq9V)
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