Other Gun Crimes Also Seem to Be Up
By Allison Klein and Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
A 46-year-old man was fatally shot in Southeast Washington yesterday in the city's 170th homicide of the year, surpassing the total for all of last year.
No information was available about any suspect or motive in yesterday's killing, which occurred before dawn in the 4300 block of Wheeler Road, near the border with Prince George's County.
But it underscored an upsurge in violence, including robberies and armed assaults, that has challenged D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
In another incident of violence yesterday, a man was shot and wounded after dark in Columbia Heights. He had been shot in the same neighborhood less than a month ago, according to a D.C. Council member.
Although the number of homicides is already more than last year's 169, that figure was the smallest in the city in 21 years.
With 35 days left in the year, this year's pace remains below 2005 and 2004, when the totals were 196 and 198, respectively.
Yesterday's killing was the first in the city in more than a week; none had been reported since Nov. 17.
The man killed yesterday was identified as a resident of the Lorton area of Fairfax County. Police said they were withholding his name until his relatives could be notified.
It was not clear last night what the man was doing when he was shot.
Shortly after being hit, the victim was found blocks away in Prince George's County. He was slumped over the wheel of a car. At first it was thought he had been injured in a crash, but high-tech equipment and investigators in the city and county helped to piece together what had happened.
Authorities said the shooting occurred sometime between 4 and 4:30 a.m.
Shot-detection equipment, which has been installed in some parts of the city, apparently picked up the sounds of the shots and provided information on their location, according to a law enforcement source.
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.
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