D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Tuesday that they must refocus their law enforcement efforts after a bloody Halloween night that saw a half-dozen shootings capped a deadly month in the city. Five teenagers were among the six people who were shot across the city Monday night — including a 17-year-old boy shot in the head in the head in Georgetown. The boy was clinging to life Tuesday night. The five other victims were expected to recover.
“It’s especially disturbing that these crimes involve teenagers,” Gray said.
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D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said there was no evidence that the Halloween celebration played a role in the violence.
| D.C.’s Halloween horrors |
| • In 2011, six people, including five teenagers, were shot in five incidents. |
| • In 2009, two were people killed, including a 19-year-old man in a gang shooting and an unsolved killing of restaurant owner Nori Amaya at her apartment on 16th Street Northwest. Investigators reviewing security cameras have difficulty identifying those who entered Amaya’s building because many wore Halloween masks. |
| • In 2007, the District saw seven shootings, a homicide and an armed carjacking in Adams Morgan that resulted in a fatal police shooting. |
“October is always one of our more challenging months,” Lanier said. “When the weather changes, and the coats and the jackets, and the baggy clothing starts to go on, it’s easier to conceal handguns and go out in public.”
The violence was unsettling to some who witnessed it.
Don Lobos restaurant manager Franklin Ramirez said he was startled by the sound of gunshots Monday evening. Ramirez peered out the window of his Georgetown restaurant to see a teenager on the ground, blood spilling from his head while another young friend held the boy’s hand. The friend kept saying, “Stay with us, don’t leave, you can be strong,” Ramirez recalled. “I’ve seen the stuff in the movie, but I never expected to see something like this in reality.”
The Halloween shooting spree started in the Trinidad neighborhood about 8:15 p.m. A 16-year-old boy walking near Florida Avenue and Staple Street NE was grazed in the head by a bullet. Lanier said the culprit in that shooting wore a ski mask. A green SUV, possibly a Jeep Cherokee, was seen speeding from the scene.
About an hour later, a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old woman were shot in the Petworth neighborhood at Georgia Avenue and Decatur Street NW.
Shortly afterward, a couple blocks away, an 18-year-old girl was shot on the 800 block of Crittendon Street NW. The Petworth shootings might be connected, Lanier said.
About 10:50 p.m., a 17-year-old D.C. boy was shot on the 2800 block of M Street NW in Georgetown — the shooting near Don Lobos. A 24-year-old man was arrested near the scene but had not been charged in the shooting late Tuesday.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday.
The final shooting happened shortly after midnight on the 4200 block of Barnaby Road SE. A 44-year-old man was shot in the leg.
The District had 13 homicides in October, including nine people killed in one week. Still, the city is on pace to have the lowest number of homicides since 1963. There are 95 homicides so far this year, compared with 110 at this point last year. There are also 93 fewer nonfatal shootings compared with last year, Lanier said.
