Spate of Shootings Makes Horror Real on Halloween

One Person Was Killed, and Nine Were Wounded; Incidents Were Concentrated in Northwest Area

Halloween brought an unusual amount of bloodshed in the District, with 10 people shot, one fatally, in six incidents. The violence was concentrated in the Columbia Heights and neighboring Georgia Avenue areas of Northwest Washington.

"We're all frustrated," said Police Cmdr. Larry McCoy, who heads the 3rd District, where eight people were shot. He said his officers were racing from scene to scene, starting in the early evening and lasting into the early hours yesterday.

The violence came two days after Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced an increase in patrols in crime-prone areas, including Columbia Heights and lower Georgia Avenue. The chief has also revived her "All Hands on Deck" program, in which she puts most available sworn personnel on duty; they will work eight-hour shifts today through Sunday. It increased police visibility on some nights last summer but did not lead to any significant drop in crime.

Crime is increasing in the city, with homicides up 12 percent from this time last year. There have been 161 killings this year, just eight less than in all of 2006. Armed robberies and assaults also are rising.

Police have made no arrests in the Halloween night cases, Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes said. She said she does not believe they were related, although investigators are looking into a possible connection to gang activity in a few of the cases.

"We have no leads," Groomes said. "We need the community to step up and call us."

In addition to the shootings, there were 18 robberies reported in the city Wednesday. And there was a carjacking at 17th Street and Columbia Road in the early evening that led to a chase through the city and into Prince George's County.

The suspect allegedly rammed a D.C. police cruiser in the 5600 block of Kenilworth Avenue in the Riverdale Park area, jumped out and fled on foot. The man grabbed a passerby, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him, police said. The passerby broke free, and two D.C. police officers and a county officer opened fire, fatally wounding the suspect. County police said yesterday that they were working to identify him. They said a .45-caliber handgun was recovered.

Police said all the victims of the nonfatal shootings were in stable condition yesterday.

The killing was the final act in the violent six hours. David Mayo, 38, was fatally shot at 12:50 a.m. yesterday in the 600 block of Park Road NW, the area of the Park Morton apartments near Georgia Avenue. Two others were wounded.

The evening's violence began at 6:45 p.m. in Southeast, with shots fired in the 1300 block of Alabama Avenue. No one was hit. About an hour later, two people were shot across town at Ninth and Emerson streets NW. Then gunfire in the Columbia Heights and lower Georgia Avenue corridor started.

At 10:20 p.m., a van pulled up at 14th and Harvard streets and people opened fire from inside, hitting four victims. A police car was a half-block away and raced to the scene after the officer heard the shots.