Police investigate shooting near Southern Ave, Wheeler Rd, road closed

Prince George’s County police closed Southern Ave near Wheeler Rd as investigators worked a shooting scene that cut off traffic, crowded the corridor with police units and left nearby businesses behind crime scene tape.

The shutdown hit the Oxon Hill and Hillcrest Heights area hard, where commuters, transit riders and residents rely on that stretch to move between the Southern Avenue Metro corridor and surrounding neighborhoods. Drivers were told to expect delays while officers worked the scene, and police had not released any suspect information.

Officials had not said how badly anyone was hurt, but the visible police response signaled a serious investigation in a corridor that has repeatedly absorbed the impact of gunfire and road closures. The blocking of the roadway and storefront access also raised immediate concerns for businesses trying to operate along the busy county route.

The Southern Avenue Metro area has faced this kind of disruption before. In January 2023, a man was fatally shot outside the Southern Avenue Metro Station in Hillcrest Heights, and the station was closed for about three hours while buses and trains bypassed the stop. That closure rippled through the transit network and left riders finding other ways around the scene.

Southern Avenue has also been the site of another recent shooting response. In April 2025, officers were called to reports of shots fired on Southern Avenue, where a juvenile was hit by gunfire and taken to a local hospital. Police said then that no suspects were in custody.

Wheeler Road has carried its own history of violence. In July 2023, police responded to a shooting at High Point Grocery and Tobacco in Oxon Hill, where 27-year-old Deangelo Washington of Washington, D.C., was killed. That case underscored how quickly violence at one intersection can affect a commercial strip used by workers, shoppers and drivers all day.

The broader county picture has improved, but the danger has not disappeared. Prince George’s County police and local outlets reported that homicides fell 41% in 2025 compared with 2024, with violent crime down 21% overall. Even with those gains, another shooting near Southern Ave and Wheeler Rd showed how a single call can still shut down a key corridor and shake a community that has seen too many of them.