A 15-month-old boy was shot and killed in D.C. while riding in a vehicle Wednesday night, marking the third shooting of a juvenile in the city this week, and the youngest shooting victim in D.C. this year.

D.C. police responded to reports of gunfire around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 5700 block of Southern Avenue, near the border of the District and Prince George’s County, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said in a press conference Wednesday night.

Newsham said officers believe the vehicle was shot multiple times in the 5700 block of Southern Avenue, and later came to stop a block away near the intersection of Southern and Central Avenue. The man driving the vehicle, the child’s father, as well as a second child riding in the car at the time were not injured, according to police.

The 1-year-old boy was shot multiple times and transported to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to Newsham.

During a press conference on Thursday, Newsham, joined by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, identified the child as Carmelo Duncan of Southeast D.C. According to Newsham, evidence indicates that more than one weapon was used during the shooting, and police do not believe the shooting to be random. Police have a lookout on an SUV that they believe may have been involved with the murder.

Both Bowser and Newsham pleaded with the public on Thursday to aid in the investigation. D.C. police, D.C.’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms, and Explosives, and the FBI are offering a total reward of $60,000 for information related to the case.

“There are simply no words for the sense of outrage we should all feel at the loss of this beautiful baby boy,” Bowser said Thursday. “The level of senselessness is impossible to process.” 

On Thursday, about 40 people walked along Southern Avenue in Southeast near where Duncan was killed. Members of the community called on people with information about the incident to come forward.

Carmelo’s death marks the third shooting of a juvenile in Southeast this week, adding to a number of shootings in the city this year that have involved children. In February, an 11-month-old was severely beaten and later died.

On Tuesday, two juveniles were shot on Good Hope Road in Anacostia, according to a statement from police. (MPD did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the victim’s ages.) In August, a 5-year-old boy was shot by a stray bullet in Southeast, less than 24 hours after an 8-year-old girl was shot in the ear while walking past a playground in the Woodland Terrace area. Earlier in the summer, 11-year-old Davon McNeal was killed in gunfire during a Fourth of July celebration, and a 4-year-old girl was injured by a gunshot wound in Northeast. And in May, 13-year-old Malachi Lukes was shot and killed in Shaw.

As of Thursday, the city has reported 187 homicides in 2020 — up 19% from 156 at this time last year. This is the highest number of homicides the city has recorded in more than a decade. Killings have been rising steadily for the past several years, and 2020’s rash of violence comes as the pandemic complicates violence interruption efforts in the city.

This story was updated to reflect that Duncan was not the youngest homicide victim this year.