National Guard Member Shot While Breaking Up a Fight Near Eastern Market in D.C.; Suspect Wounded as Guard Returns Fire

A National Guard member was shot in the leg late Sunday after Guard members stopped to break up a fight in Washington, D.C.'s Eastern Market neighborhood on Capitol Hill, and the suspected gunman was shot when Guard members returned fire, police said.

Both the Guard member and the suspect suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and are expected to survive, Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said at a news conference early Monday. The suspect is hospitalized in custody, WJLA-TV (7News) reported.

The shooting happened at about 11:10 p.m. Sunday in the 400 block of 8th Street SE, according to police.

National Guard Member Shot After Troops Step In

About seven or eight National Guard members were sitting in a van when they saw a fight on the sidewalk and got out to stop it, Carroll said.

A man involved in the fight "pulled out a firearm and began shooting," Carroll told reporters, according to the New York Post. "The National Guard members told the individual to drop the firearm. He discharged a round at the National Guard members who returned fire at that suspect," he said.

The confrontation started on the sidewalk near an alley entrance and moved into the alley, where the suspect fired at Guard members again, Carroll said, according to WJLA. Three Guard members fired their weapons. Investigators have not determined which Guard member's gunfire struck the suspect.

"So both have gunshot wounds," Carroll said, "the National Guard member and the suspect." The Guard member was struck in the leg and the suspect in the abdomen, police said. Guard members began giving aid after the shooting, and D.C. Fire and EMS crews from a nearby firehouse quickly helped, Carroll said, according to WJLA. Both were taken to hospitals.

What Investigators Are Still Looking At

Police have not released the suspect's name or announced charges. What started the fight is under investigation. Preliminary information indicates the people in the fight had been inside a nearby establishment earlier in the evening, according to WJLA.

Carroll said police were not looking for another shooter but want to speak with people who were involved in the fight and with witnesses who left after the gunfire. He said there was no further threat to the public.

The department's Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigations Division are investigating. Police ask anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411.

The Guard's Mission in the Capital

National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington under Joint Task Force-District of Columbia as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. In September 2025, about 2,300 Guard members were supporting the task force, according to the National Guard.

Sunday's shooting came nearly 11 months after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot near the Farragut West Metro station, two blocks from the White House, on Nov. 26, 2025. One of them died of her wounds the next day. The suspect in that attack has pleaded not guilty.

The Guard member wounded Sunday has not been identified, and police have not said which state's Guard unit the member belongs to.

Sources: Reported early Monday by WJLA-TV (7News), Fox News and the New York Post. WJLA 7News, "National Guard member shot in DC while intervening in fight; suspect also wounded," Oct. 19, 2026: https://wjla.com/news/local/washington-dc-national-guard-member-suspect-shooting-southeast-eighth-street-se-fight-gunfire-jeffery-carroll-metropolitan-police-department-christian-flores-wounded-leg-abdomen-arrest-investigation-internal-affairs-capitol-hill-eastern-market ; Fox News, "National Guard member shot in DC, police chief says," Oct. 19, 2026: https://www.foxnews.com/us/national-guard-member-shot-washington-dc ; New York Post, "National Guard member shot while trying to stop Washington, DC fight," Oct. 19, 2026: https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/us-news/national-guard-member-shot-while-trying-to-stop-washington-dc-fight/ ; Metropolitan Police Department, "Jeffery W. Carroll" (biography): https://mpdc.dc.gov/biography/jeffery-w-carroll ; U.S. National Guard photo release 250909-Z-SC297-1068 (Joint Task Force-District of Columbia, Sept. 9, 2025): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_Virginia_National_Guard_Patrol_at_Union_Station_(9306304).jpg