WASHINGTON, July 20 — Police in Washington are hunting for three men over what appeared to be a targeted attack that killed one person and wounded eight when armed men fired at a group, the police chief of the US capital said yesterday.

The chief, Peter Newsham, said a woman was among nine adults taken to a hospital, where one was declared dead and two seriously hurt, although the injuries to the rest were not life-threatening.

"This type of brazen daylight activity in a very, very busy block, I'm sure, is scary for this community,” Newsham told a news briefing posted online. "They're putting everybody in the community in jeopardy.”

Two of the three assailants in the shooting at 14th Street and Spring Road, Northwest, were wearing black hooded jackets or sweatshirts and one wore a gray sweatshirt with black sweatpants that had a white stripe, Newsham added.

Two carried long guns and the third a pistol, Newsham said, adding that more than one person in the group appeared to have been be targeted, with some of those in it known to the police. — Reuters