McDonald's Fatal Shooting Sparks Police Manhunt in Washington D.C.

A man in Washington, D.C., was fatally shot inside a McDonald's restaurant, according to police.

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers learned the shooting happened at the restaurant in the 1600 Block of Benning Road NE on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings from across the country, six people have been fatally shot in Washington, D.C., this month. The same database also found that 58 people have been fatally shot in Washington, D.C., since January 1 this year.

ABC affiliate 7News reported one man was shot inside the McDonald's and that there had been some form of confrontation before the shooting.

What Does The McDonald's Shooting Suspect Look Like?

Following the shooting, an MPD spokesperson told Newsweek: "Lookout is for (one) black male, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, with a black sweatshirt wrapped around his waist with twists in his hair, armed with a handgun."

A female witness who was in the restaurant with her baby boy when told the network the suspect had been talking to someone on his phone.

She added the suspect reportedly tried to confirm the identity of the man who he eventually ended up shooting to death.

"It makes me sad. It makes me really sad that I could lose my life, or my son could lose his life because of being in the wrong place and the wrong time," the witness told 7News.

As of Thursday morning, the MPD made no announcement that any arrest had been made in connection with the shooting.

Anyone who has information they would like to share with the police is urged to call (202) 727-9099 or to text 50411.

According to Washington, D.C., government statistics, there were 203 homicides in 2022 in the federal district. This represents a 10 percent decline in the number of homicides in 2021 where there were 226.

As of April this year, there have been 62 homicides in Washington, D.C., which is a 27 percent increase from this time last year when there were 48.

Newsweek has contacted McDonald's and the MPD for comment via email.

There have been numerous occasions where people have been shot at McDonald's restaurants across the U.S.

In February, a 14-year-old Jacob Russ was fatally shot in Sumter, 40 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina.

Sumter police later arrested Marcques Charles Wright Jr., 25, and charged him with the teenager's murder.

A police statement shared at the time read: "Initial information indicates there was a fight inside the North Lafayette Drive restaurant between Wright, and an employee of the business and another employee.

"A family member there to pick up the other man was trying to break up the fight when Wright pulled a gun and began firing before running away."