Crime Report: 7 Teens Shot in Two Days, Crime Statistics
By • October 11, 2022 0 1427
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer was exasperated.
“Too many guns. Too many bullets,” Commander James M. Boteler told gathered members of the press at 14th and Columbia Road NW on Monday, Oct. 10 following a drive-by shooting nearby and police investigations into a two-day spate of gun violence across the city in 5 separate incidents leaving 7 teens wounded.
“I mean, we’re looking at numerous shell casings laying on the scene. We have what appears to be an automatic firearm that’s recovered from this vehicle. It’s just unacceptable,” Boteler explained. “And the Metropolitan Police Department is doing everything it can to take illegal guns off the street. But it just seems like every time we turn around, one of these weapons is turning up at one of these scenes,” Boteler said.
“My officers who were here at 14th and Columbia heard rapid gunfire coming from right behind me on the 1300 block of Columbia Road,” he said. Police were keeping vigilant patrols of the area due to recent spikes in violence.
NBC 4 News Monday evening Oct. 10 began with co-anchor Jim Handly: “Outbreak of violence. Right now police are investigating several shootings in the District over a span of roughly 24 hours and they all involve juveniles….”
The map graphic behind co-anchor Shawn Yancey displayed where the 5 separate shooting incidents took place: Otis Place NW, Columbia Rd. NW, Massachusetts Ave SE, Birney Place SE and Stanton Rd SE. Of the 7 juveniles wounded, “two of those children were shot this morning in Northwest near an area where police recovered a stolen car with an assault rifle inside.” Police reported that a car stolen violently in a carjacking on Florida Avenue Sunday evening was used on Monday morning in the drive-by on Columbia Road NW. “It crashed in an alley behind an apartment complex,” reporter Paul Wagner said.
“Evidence markers show the number of shots fired. All of them shell casings littering the street.” Police reported “a juvenile male was hit in the leg. A few minutes later, police found a second victim, an adult male a few blocks away at 16th [Street] and Columbia Road NW where he had driven after the shooting. Police say the man was suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach and was inside the work van when he was hit… He appears to be an innocent bystander. About a half an hour earlier, a 15-year-old male was shot between Warder Street and Otis Place NW. A source familiar with the investigation says he was hit in the arm and leg,” Wagner said.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Watts on Fox 5 evening news reported that “Gunfire across the city is not only hurting kids but causing panic for those living nearby.” Reporting from Birney Place SE where a teenager had been injured on Sunday afternoon, Watts interviewed a woman who wished to remain anonymous. “She said she ducked for cover,” Watts said in reference to the shooting that took place in the parking lot of the woman’s building at Birney Place SE.
“I was, you know, fearing for my life,” the woman said. “So after the gunfire was over, I looked outside and noticed my truck was shot up.” She showed Watts pictures of her truck with damage to the side mirrors, a broken window and damaged radio. “A single bullet ricocheted through her vehicle. And this comes less than three months after a spray of bullets were fired into her apartment she shares with her teen son.” Police reported that that earlier shooting in the same location – with over 100 rounds fired – injured a pregnant woman.
“It’s stressful because when I leave early in the morning I have to peek out to make sure that I feel that it’s safe for me to get in my vehicle to go to work. Because, I mean, you know, bills still have to get paid,” the anonymous woman said.
In its weekly Firearms Recovery report from Sept. 26 through Oct. 3, MPD reported 56 firearms – ranging from pistols to semi-automatic firearms – secured.
MPD also released a Year-to-Year Crime Comparison for 2021, as of Oct. 11, 2022. While crimes are down in nearly every category including homicide (-5 percent), sex abuse (-14 percent) and assault with a dangerous weapon (-13 percent), robberies in the city have risen dramatically with a 6 percent increase. Motor vehicle robberies are also up 2 percent. That many juveniles in the District are involved in these spikes is of particular concern.
