At least five people were shot in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday afternoon. Two people died in the shooting, according to police, and three people are being treated for injuries at local hospitals. The shooting occurred at North Capitol St. and O St. NW shortly after noon, police said.

Witnesses told police that a small black SUV turned from North Capitol St. onto O St. NW. At least two shooters exited the vehicle, shot at people on the block, and then left in that SUV.

A mass shooting is an incident where at least four victims are shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks all known gun violence incidents in the U.S. This is the second mass shooting in D.C. this month.

Ashan Benedict, the Executive Assistant Chief of Police at MPD, said the information he was able to provide was only preliminary, and it was “very early in the investigation.”

Benedict described the area as an “open air drug market,” adding that the shooting was possibly drug-related.

“This block is known to us,” Benedict told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “This is an ongoing problem for us.”

Benedict said police arrived to the scene of the shooting within a minute.

The shooting occurred close to the Mundo Verde charter school. In response to questions about whether police were adequately protecting the neighborhood, Benedict said police were doing the best they can with the resources they have.

“We have a lot of neighborhoods to cover down on,” said Benedict.  “We’re trying to be as resourceful as we possibly can to put our officers and our detectives and our specialized units to where the crime is, and unfortunately that crime just keeps moving around. We’ll be on one block, and we’ll displace criminals to another area where there will be shootings.”

Before Wednesday’s mass shooting, 136 people had been killed in the District this year. That represents a 4% increase in homicides from this time last year, when more people were murdered in the District than any year since 2003.