Nyiah Courtney DC 6 year old girl shot dead outside Popeyes along with 5 others injured in mass shooting. No arrests as Washington DC police seek perpetrator.
Police have released video of the drive-by shooting that left a 6-year-old girl dead (see below) and five adults hurt outside a Popeyes in Washington D.C.
Nyiah Courtney was riding her scooter on a sidewalk when a silver four-door sedan rolled through the intersection and opened fire — sending people in front of the fast food outlet scattering, according to the footage of Friday night’s incident.
The mass shooting took place at around 11 p.m., at the intersection of Malcolm X and MLK avenues in the Congress Heights section of the city.
Cops who were nearby responded to the scene about 34 seconds after the first gunshot was heard the Washington Informer reported.
The child was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved, cops said.
Last night, 6 year-old Nyiah Courtney tragically lost her life to senseless gun violence.
We seek our community’s help to bring justice and closure to Nyiah’s family.
If you have any information about the vehicle pictured below, please call (202) 727-9099 or text 50411 pic.twitter.com/9vHMEPP1lV
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 18, 2021
BREAKING! Washington DC: Mass shooting incident w/homicide: 2900 Bl. of MLK Ave. S.E. MPD on scene with reports of at least 8 individuals shot, with a juvenile being one. pic.twitter.com/VarLFj52b0
— The American Patriot (@aceofspades1776) July 17, 2021
‘It is time for us to say enough is enough.’
None of the five adults injured in the shooting suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.
Authorities are offering a $60,000 reward for information on her killer.
‘The cowards who committed this crime came into this community, without any regard for human life, without regard for Nyiah’s life and opened fire,’ Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said during a Saturday press conference.
‘That cannot and will not be tolerated. It is time for us to say enough is enough.’
‘I am asking that we all stand together and say, ‘No more!’’ Contee said. ‘I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.’
Officials have not yet confirmed a motive, though have suggested the shooting had resulted from a personal dispute.
Nyiah was set to enter first grade in the fall, Contee said, adding, ‘and now that won’t happen and frankly that is unacceptable to me and it should be to every resident.’
Unrelenting gun violence
The child’s kindergarten teacher said Nyiah ‘had so much potential.’
‘There were so many things she was interested in life and wanted to do,’ Dayna Hudson told the Sun. ‘She shined in the classroom, and we will miss her very much.’
Hudson added that Nyiah was a ‘kind and compassionate’ child who other children gravitated towards.
‘She shined in the classroom, and we will miss her very much,’ she said.
Although gun violence is up in many cities this year, statistics from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department show the number of murders and assaults with a deadly weapon so far in 2021 is the same as at this point last year. However, homicides in the district have doubled in the last decade.
