The incident happened near the Farragut metro station and comes amid a controversial troop deployment to Washington ordered by President Donald Trump.
In an X post, the DC Metropolitan Police said they are at the crime scene and advised people to avoid the area.
The police did not confirm if there were casualties, but law enforcement officials told AP two US National Guard members were shot.
Another law enforcement official told the New York Times only one member of the National Guard was gunned down.
The circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear at the time of this report.
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said, Trump has been briefed.
“The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation,” Leavitt said in a statement.
National guard troops have been in Washington DC for months as part of Trump’s anti-crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
State governors have since criticised the deployment, terming it as “cruel and purposefully inflammatory”.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says the shooter responsible for killing two national guardsmen will pay a steep price.
Dozens of emergency responders and police vehicles have gathered at the scene of the shooting, where troops have been patrolling for months.
Local police cordoned off several blocks of the surrounding area and said one suspect was in custody.
In a Truth Social post moments later, Trump confirmed that the guardsmen were critically wounded.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” he said.
He empathised with the National Guard and all Americans.
There are an estimated 2,375 National Guard troops positioned across Washington, where they have been deployed since August, when the Trump administration declared a “crime emergency” in the city and ordered them to support federal and local law enforcement.
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