Off-duty police officer injured in Washington shooting – Winnipeg Free Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Washington, D.C., police officer was injured Monday afternoon when a suspect opened fire while the officer was on his way to work.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said an officer was en route to the 4th Precinct station in the afternoon when he “observed an extremely erratic vehicle” in front of him with two people inside in the 5800 block of Northwest 7th Street. The car then “stopped very suddenly” and a man got out and fired at the officer's car, he said.

It is unclear whether the shooters knew that the victim, whose name has not been released, was a police officer. The officer, an 18-year MPD veteran, was not in uniform and was driving his own vehicle. He was taken to the 4th district station and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Smith could not confirm whether the officer was shot or injured by flying debris.

The officer was able to provide a partial license plate number and description of the vehicle. Police tracked the vehicle using a helicopter and chased it across the Maryland border before crashing in Landover, Maryland. Two men in the vehicle were arrested.