Teen girl dies after being pulled from water near Francis Scott Key Bridge

By Will Vitka
August 23, 2026 | 5:02 PM

A teenage girl is dead after being removed late Saturday from the Potomac River near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Northwest D.C., police said.

D.C. police said the department’s Harbor Unit responded to a report of a person in the water at about 7:45 p.m.

Officers found the girl unconscious and not breathing near the 3300 block of Water Street NW.

She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead despite lifesaving efforts.

Police have not released the girl’s name or provided details about how she ended up in the water.

Her death remains under investigation.

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‘My concerns are more for our service members’: Former Stars and Stripes editor on his and other firings

By Tracy Johnke
August 23, 2026 | 12:34 PM

Former Stars and Stripe's Editor-in-Chief Eric Slavin speaks to WTOP's Ralph Fox. One of the Stars and Stripes staffers fired by the Pentagon said changes at the military newspaper could threaten its ability to cover news important to U.S. service members and their families. Eric Slavin, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, was fired Friday. Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte also lost their jobs. "It was quite a shock," Slavin told WTOP's Ralph Fox. "It's not what I expected when I woke up on Friday, but really concerns are more for our service members and our families and what may lay ahead."

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