(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) Arlington County police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire near Columbia Pike last night.
The incident happened around 11 p.m. Tuesday on the 1000 block of S. Wayne Street, near several high-rise apartment and condo buildings.
Initial reports suggest that multiple shots were fired, possibly in a parking garage, where arriving officers found a dissipating cloud of smoke. Callers also reported seeing several people running from the scene, according to scanner traffic.
John Antonelli, who lives in one of the residential towers nearby, described hearing “automatic weapons fire,” followed by someone driving away at a high rate of speed and, shortly thereafter, “a lot of cops” arriving on scene.
On Twitter, others also reported hearing between 8 and 11 shots fired in rapid succession, followed by a car speeding off.
There were no initial report of injuries.
The investigation was quickly moved to an encrypted police channel. An Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an ARLnow inquiry sent last night, but provided the following from the department’s crime report early Wednesday afternoon.
SHOTS FIRED, 2023-03140266, 1000 block of S. Wayne Street. At approximately 10:58 p.m. on March 14, police were dispatched to the report of shots heard. Responding officers recovered evidence in the area of S. Courthouse Road at 12th Street S. confirming shots were fired. During the course of the investigation, officers established a perimeter, processed the scene and spoke with potential witnesses who reported observing several individuals flee the area on foot following the shots. No property damage or injuries were reported. There are no suspect descriptions. The investigation is ongoing.
This is just the latest gunfire incident in Arlington. On Jan. 29, two separate shots fired calls drew a police response to the Green Valley and Arlington Mill neighborhoods. On Jan. 30, gunfire between two vehicles speeding down Columbia Pike resulted in bullet holes in the front windows of Bob & Edith’s Diner, a block from last night’s incident. On Feb. 20, more shots were fired between two vehicles in the Virginia Square area.