H Street NE Is Back to Business After Car Chase and Gunfight

(Updated at 12:15 p.m.) Residents and businesses are working to return to business as usual on the H Street corridor this morning, after a police-involved shootout last night with a man suspected of killing a Census Bureau guard.

Taylor Gourmet, The Daily Rider bike shop and other businesses on the 1100 block of H Street NE were up and running on Friday, even as the block was still closed to traffic and lined in police tape. Officers reopened the block to cars about 9:45 a.m., more than 12 hours after the wild car chase and gunfight.

Neighborhood resident Chris Zarconi, 33, said he viewed the shooting as an isolated incident.

“It would be one thing if it was neighbors robbing and shooting each other,” he said.

A kidnapping suspect shot a guard near the Census Bureau campus in Suitland, Maryland, fired at police cars who pursued him and then crashed into a patrol car on H Street NE when officers tried to block his path, according to police and media reports. A gunfight between the suspect and police broke out on the 1100 block of H Street NE, with pedestrians and restaurant patrons reportedly ducking for cover.

The 59-year-old guard died last night and a D.C. police sergeant was hit in the leg, WTOP reported. The suspect was shot in the head and conscious last night, and the female kidnapping victim was OK, Police Chief Cathy Lanier told The Washington Post.

Loren Copsey, who owns The Daily Rider bike shop with his wife, Beth, was inside the store with two customers and an employee when they heard cars slam into each other outside. Then, they heard gunshots.

Copsey, a 10-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, told everyone to hit the ground. The foursome waited in the back of the 1108 H St. NE shop for at least 30 minutes as police closed the block.

“It was an unusual situation,” Copsey said. “It was definitely a little bit of an adrenaline rush.”

Bridget Robinson, 51, was on the sidewalk when the shots rang out.

“It was scary. I was running,” she said. “Lots of police flying, flying, flying.”

Business back open on Friday include Me & My Supermarket, Albert C. Hillman Barber Shop and Family Dollar.

Resident Sheila White, 55, said she was not worried by the incident.

“That was unusual. That was a rare occurrence around here,” she said.

Resident Danny Davis, 28, said he was accustomed to occasional crime.

“This is D.C.,” he said. “I expect the unexpected.”