Man charged after National Guard member is shot breaking up a fight on Barracks Row

By Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON — A Southeast Washington man has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and three other offenses after a National Guard member was shot while Guard troops tried to break up a street fight on Barracks Row late Sunday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Three Guard members fired back and struck the man, police said. Both he and the wounded Guard member were taken to hospitals with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

Police identified the man as Jerrell Jackson, 41, of Southeast. He was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (gun), assault on a police officer and emergency personnel, carrying a pistol without a license, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

What police say happened

According to the department’s account, officers from the First District were called at about 11:10 p.m. Sunday to the 400 block of 8th Street SE. Guard members assigned to patrol the Barracks Row corridor had seen a fight outside an establishment and tried to stop it, police said, when a man involved in the fight pulled a gun and began shooting.

The Guard members ordered him to drop the weapon, police said, but he tried to flee while firing toward them, striking one. Three Guard members then fired at the man and hit him. Guard members held him until MPD officers arrived. Police said the man’s gun was recovered at the scene and released a photo of it with the serial number redacted.

Jeffrey Carroll, the department’s interim chief, told reporters early Monday that the Guard members had been in a van when they saw the fight, and that the wounded Guard member was struck in the leg, CBS News reported. FOX 5 reported that seven or eight Guard members were in the patrol, that the shooting happened in front of a D.C. Fire and EMS station, that the Guard member was released from the hospital soon afterward, and that a U.S. Marshals Service report counted at least 14 shell casings.

Who investigates

As in every shooting by law enforcement officers in the District, the case is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Bureau’s Force Investigations Team, police said, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will independently review the facts and evidence.

Reaction

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said her understanding was “that there was a dispute with some gunplay,” according to FOX 5. A White House spokesperson said in a statement to the station that the administration was “praying this National Guard member has a quick and speedy recovery” and credited what it called “the President’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force” with reducing violent crime. Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, whose ward includes Barracks Row, told the station, “I know MPD has had to put a lot of resources into this corridor.”

The deployment behind the patrols

The Guard has patrolled the city since President Trump activated it on Aug. 11, 2025, after declaring a crime emergency. As of Oct. 17, Joint Task Force-DC listed 2,962 assigned personnel from the District and 20 states and territories, according to the D.C. National Guard, with the largest contingents from the District (651), Georgia (517), Mississippi (349) and Florida (327).

The deployment remains in court. A federal judge ruled in November 2025 that it was unlawful, but appellate judges stayed that order during the government’s appeal, and a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments on Oct. 14, Courthouse News Service reported. The mobilization has been extended through the rest of President Trump’s term.

Sunday’s shooting came 11 months after two Guard members deployed to the city were shot near the White House in November 2025; one was killed. A man charged in that attack has pleaded not guilty, CBS News reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411.

Court records showing whether Mr. Jackson has a lawyer were not immediately available.

Photo: D.C. National Guard soldiers with the 273rd Military Police Company patrol the National Mall on Aug. 12, 2025. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joseph Spraktes / The National Guard via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.