Two brothers were shot and killed Friday night outside a northeast D.C. church filled with worshipers who were attending a children's service, police said.
Police have identified the victims as Khalid Jamal Bryant, 24, and Jason Emmanuel Bryant, 26. The victims were brothers and lived in Northeast DC.
The slayings are the 22nd and 23rd in the District this year — a rate far greater than that in the first two months of last year.
Gunshots were reported at about 7:45 p.m. in the 4900 block of Lee Street, a residential area of single-family homes. The first officers to respond found two victims on the ground.
The scene was close to Antioch Baptist Church on 50th street in Northeast. Worshipers were briefly held inside the church before they were escorted out a back door.
Police would not allow them to turn the corner onto Lee Street, in order to shield the children from the sight of one of the victims.
On Thursday, two teenagers were killed in separate incidents in three hours in Southeast D.C.
Seventeen-year-old Jonathon Adams was stabbed to death at 5:15 p.m. at an apartment building on Halley Terrace Southeast. Police made an arrest in his murder Friday.
And at 8:30 p.m., 19-yr-old Tykia Dickerson was found shot to death, lying on a sidewalk in the 3600 block of Jay Street SE.
