D.C. Violence Leaves Many Searching for Answers

"He just says, 'What's up?' and started shooting," said Tyrone Redrick, 43, relaying the account given to him by William. "It wasn't a stick-up or anything."

A bullet grazed William's back, and another hit Robinson just beneath her elbow and shattered the bone in her forearm, Redrick said. She was in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital yesterday afternoon and expected to be released today, he said.

Police clarified yesterday that they were searching for individuals in two separate and apparently unrelated vehicles in connection with the shootings in Trinidad. The first group, consisting of three people in a black sedan, allegedly drove into the neighborhood shortly after 1:00 am Saturday and shot and injured an adult male and another 13-year-old boy before fleeing.

The second set consisted of two people in a gold 2002 Dodge Intrepid sedan who drove to Holbrook Street about 2:25 a.m. Police think they were responsible for three of the shooting incidents in the neighborhood that morning, including Alonzo's killing.

Like several residents interviewed, Eric James, 21, standing a few blocks from where Alonzo was shot, said his death represents a failure of police efforts to step up patrols in the area.

"If they were around here like they say they're around here, why did this happen?" he asked.

Others complained that when police do show up, they are ineffective.

"It seems a waste to do this in the daytime," Kevin Brown, 30, said as he watched police at a checkpoint next to his grandmother's house. "Right now, they're just getting people coming in to pick up their family for church."

Nighttime checks were more effective at discouraging violence, Brown said. But the bright lights police had erected on the corner the night before made it impossible to sleep. And he wondered how long police could keep it up.

"Yeah," agreed Brown's friend Shay Taylor, 20, who stood next to him, wiping her face with a wet rag to fight the heat. "It's good to have them here at night. But as soon as the police are gone, stuff just starts happening all over again."

Two blocks away, William Hill, 66, who has an injured leg, was more worried about how he was going to get to his late-night janitorial job.

"I usually call a cab to pick me up, but are they going to let the cab come to my front door at that hour, or am I going to have to walk a couple blocks to meet it?" he asked.

For Pamela Mathis, 46, who was out walking one of the dogs she keeps for protection, the dangers and hassles of life in Trinidad are fast overwhelming its charms.

"It's been happening way too much," she said of the violence. "We're in an old family house, so we're trying to continue it. But sometimes we don't want to deal with it."