A shooting in Southeast Washington, D.C., late Sunday night left one National Guardsman and a suspect injured — both with wounds that are not expected to be life-threatening. The incident is drawing renewed attention to the scale and cost of the ongoing National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital.
Around 11 p.m. Sunday, a group of seven or eight guardsmen were on duty in the 400 block of 8th Street SE — about a mile from the U.S. Capitol, near the Eastern Market Metro Station — when they witnessed a fight breaking out on the sidewalk nearby. According to Jeff Carroll, interim chief of police of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the guardsmen were sitting in a van and exited the vehicle to intervene.
The situation escalated quickly. An individual involved in the fight produced a firearm and opened fire. When the guardsmen ordered the suspect to put down the weapon, the suspect turned toward them and continued shooting. The guard members then returned fire. Carroll described the sequence of events at a press conference held shortly after the incident.
The guardsman was shot in the leg; the suspect was struck in the abdomen. Both were transported to local hospitals and are expected to survive. The suspect was placed under arrest. The MPD Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigations Division are both investigating, and police say there is no further threat to the public.
A Familiar Location, A Pattern of Violence
The shooting took place in front of Cafe 8, a hookah bar and restaurant near the Eastern Market Metro Station. Councilmember Charles Allen, D-Ward 6, who represents the neighborhood, said the area has seen
“repeated issues”
outside that establishment involving gunfire. Following Sunday’s incident, Allen called for an emergency closure of the business until
“this business changes how they operate.”
A Reminder of Last Year’s Tragedy
Sunday’s shooting is a stark reminder of an incident from one year ago, when two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot just blocks from the White House near the Farragut West Metro Station. Those two soldiers were later awarded Purple Hearts. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds the day after that shooting, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, survived following surgery.
The Scope and Cost of the D.C. Deployment
Roughly 4,500 soldiers are currently deployed across Washington, D.C., at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $1.5 million per day. The deployment is scheduled to continue through January 2029, with a projected total cost of $1.4 billion. Those figures provide important context as policymakers and the public weigh the mission’s scope and its human costs — including the risks faced by the service members carrying it out.
For more on military and defense news, visit Army Times, which also covers topics such as Army policies affecting military families, the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment for retirees and veterans, absentee voting guidance for service members, renovations underway at Fort Bragg, and a planned DEERS outage affecting Tricare beneficiaries.
