At 170, Homicides Pass Total for Last Year

Police who went to Wheeler Road SE found no victim. However, they spotted fragments of what appeared to be automobile window glass.

At 5:43 a.m., Prince George's police were called to Wheeler Hills Road in Oxon Hill, less than a mile from the scene of the shooting in the District. The call was for an automobile accident. But police found a man in a gray Volkswagen Golf who had been shot at least twice. Rescue personnel were summoned, but it was clear that the man was dead.

Within a few hours, investigators connected the discovery of the body in Prince George's with the evidence of a shooting in the District.

The killing came at a time when two other significant indicators of violent crime have also been on the rise in the District, according to preliminary figures.

Robberies with a gun have climbed 25 percent. The number reported last year through Nov. 25 was 983. The corresponding figure so far this year is 1,233.

In addition, shootings and other assaults with a gun have increased from 708 to 780, a 10 percent rise.

Last night's shooting in Columbia Heights seemed to underscore the figures. Police said the victim, shot at about 6 p.m. in the 1300 block of Columbia Road NW, was expected to survive.

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said in an e-mail message to constituents that the wounded man had already been shot in the same area on Halloween night. Three others were wounded in that attack.

After last night's shooting, police stopped a vehicle in the area, found a handgun and arrested a passenger.

Last night's shooting occurred about six blocks west of where three teenagers were shot Friday night in an apparent drive-by attack. Graham said he believed some of the shootings in Columbia Heights involved gangs.

The Friday attack prompted Graham to call for more police protection.

One of Lanier's major initiatives has been to step up patrols on some weekends, but Graham questioned Friday whether current police initiatives have been sufficient.

Staff writer Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.