Washington D.C.'s chief of police is offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who can help identify the person who opened fire after a downtown street festival, killing a 15-year-old boy and wounding three other people, including a police officer.
The deadly shooting happened Sunday night as police were trying to shut down an informal Juneteenth event known as Moechella, which celebrates Black culture and a genre of music known as go-go that originated on the streets of the nation's capital.
"The person who took Chase's life and brought this violence to our community must be held accountable," Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Contee III said in a statement Monday.
Contee did not divulge the last name of the slain teenager, nor did he update the conditions of the MPD officer, who was shot in the leg, and the two other shooting survivors.
As of Sunday evening, all were in stable condition in area hospitals.
Contee also did not provide a motive for the latest outburst of deadly gun violence that happened near 14th and U streets Northwest, which is an area full of bars and restaurants.
"The investigation is ongoing as detectives canvass the scene to collect evidence and conduct witness interviews," the chief said in his statement.
The Moechella organizers did not have a permit for the event, which was starting to wind down when the shooting started, police said earlier.
Contee said they were investigating how that happened.
"When things spill out into the street... that becomes a problem," he said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed astonishment that the shooting erupted even with hundreds of officers in the area.
"We have a child who was killed today at an event that did not have any proper planning for the number of people who were here," she said.
"We need some accountability," she said.
Moechella founder Justin Johnson, also known as Yaddiya, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. He's a noted artist, activist and go-go booster.
Last year a photo book Johnson helped curate, “Long Live GoGo: The Movement,” was published as a celebration of the percussive sound.
The genre's most famous single, "Da Butt," by E.U. (Experience Unlimited), was featured in Spike Lee's second film, "School Daze," in 1988.
Moechella is widely known in music circles and it was mentioned Thursday in the city's alternative weekly newspaper, City Paper. And the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency, a federal entity, is featured on a Moechella flier as a supporter.
A spokesperson for the agency also did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2018, the city's Department of Parks and Recreation boasted that it "hosted" a Moechella event it described as "a festival filled with gardening activities, craft building workshops and live performances by local artists for students."
