Seven men were killed over the weekend in five different shootings in Prince George’s County, bringing the total number of homicides for the year in the county to 65.
“It’s hard to see seven in one weekend,” County Police spokeswoman Cpl. Debbi Carlson said Monday.
Three of the victims died in the same shootout. Three others were found in or near vehicles in various parts of the county. Police are still searching for suspects in all but one of the shootings and are seeking motives for all of the attacks.
The violence began just before midnight Friday with a triple homicide in the 1900 block of Erie Street in Adelphi, the result of a shoot-out between two groups of men. As of Monday afternoon, police were still looking into the possibility that the killings were gang-related with ties to the El Salvadoran group Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13.
At 3:25 a.m. Saturday, police responded to the 4400 block of Rena Road in Suitland where a Washington man had been fatally shot while sitting in his car.
A 19-year-old man became the fifth homicide late Saturday night when police found him shot to death next to his car in the 10100 block of Griff Drive in Fort Washington.
Early Sunday morning, police learned that a man shot at 37th and Upshur streets in Brentwood had died at a D.C. hospital after being taken there by a friend.
The seventh homicide occurred Sunday afternoon near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Donnell Drive in Forestville where police found a man shot inside his vehicle. Prince George’s saw a record number of homicides last year with 173 people killed, up from 148 in 2004. This year has seen fewer deaths than last, Carlson said, with just 84 homicides by this time in 2005.
“We’re obviously pleased that our homicides are still lower than last year, much lower,” Carlson said.
Police have increased patrols in such neighborhoods as Adelphi where past violence could spark new conflicts, Carlson said, but what investigators really need is for the community to come forward with information about the crimes.
“We’ve got to get that phone call from somebody who said they saw something or they heard something or they know something,” Carlson said. “We’ve got to receive those phone calls. They’re vital to our homicide investigators.”
Weekend homicide victims
» 11:59 p.m. Friday: Ruben Dominguez, 19, of the 9500 block of Dallas Avenue in Silver Spring, Juan Freddy Rosales-Mendes, 29, of the 13400 block of Marble Rock Road in Chantilly and Jesse Salvador, 20, of the 1700 block of Keoke Street in Hyattsville were fatally shot in the 1900 block of Erie Street in Adelphi. A fourth man was injured and taken to a hospital.
» 3:25 a.m. Saturday: Calvin Lee Smith, 28, of the 2700 block of Shipley Terrace in Southeast Washington was found shot to death in a vehicle in the 4400 block of Rena Road in Suitland.
» 11:49 p.m. Saturday: Christopher Kendall Richard, 19, of the 9400 block of Caltor Lane in Fort Washington was found shot to death next to his vehicle in the 10100 block of Griff Drive in Fort Washington.
» 12:30 a.m. Sunday: Frederick Morse, 29, of the 1100 block of Summit Street in Northeast Washington died in Providence Hospital in Washington after being shot at the intersection of 37th and Upshur streets in Brentwood.
» 6:30 p.m. Sunday: Corey Oneal Holland, 34, of Temple Hills was found shot to death inside his vehicle at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Donnell Drive in Forestville.
