Man fatally shot while carrying infant in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A man was shot and killed on Friday morning while walking with two children in northeast Washington, D.C., police said.

Someone approached the man and shot him multiple times as he was carrying an infant in a car seat and holding the hand of a 5-year-old, according to police.

The shooting occurred at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) near New York and Montana avenues.

"It's one of the most horrible things we've had here in the Fifth District in several years," Commander William FitzGerald of the D.C. police told reporters at the scene.

The relationship between the victim and the children could not immediately be determined.

FitzGerald, who oversees the 5th Police District, added that the children were uninjured and are now with their mother.

Police described the suspect as an African American man wearing a gray sweatshirt, light-colored pants, and a black mask.

There have been more than 3,100 gun deaths and 5,500 gun-related injuries in the first nine weeks of 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an online database of gun violence incidents in the United States.

In a national poll recently released by gun control advocate Everytown for Gun Safety, 58 percent of adults in the United States reported that they or someone they care for have experienced gun violence in their lifetime.