The nation's capital has seen a steady rise in violent crime throughout Washington, D.C. with a string of gunshots during the weekend bringing the total number of murders in the city to 79 for 2019.
The number of homicides is up five percent from the same point last year, but there have been many other non-fatal gun incidents throughout the city so far. "Late Saturday night, three people were shot in a drive-by shooting as a bus stop on Southern Avenue in Southeast, according to police. The suspect was driving a dark-colored sedan with tinted windows. Two of the victims in this shooting were children, multiple outlets have reported: one six-year-old girl and one three-year-old boy," the DCist reports.
Likewise, on Saturday in the northwest portion of the city, "Twenty-eight-year-old Christopher Payne was shot multiple times" and was killed. Then on Sunday, "Eighteen-year-old Ja’Vontay Brown was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and transported to a hospital, where he later died" in the southeast part of D.C..
The DCist also reports that Ward 7, which contains portions of the south and northeast, had seen a 300% increase in homicides as of April.
via The DCist:
At the start of the year, Bowser presented several violence-reduction strategies meant to curb the spike in homicides. The proposals involved increasing accountability for illegal gun crimes, creating programs to address trauma in communities, and sealing peoples’ criminal records so they have an easier time getting a job after being convicted of a crime. The mayor also proposed increasing the police force to 4,000 officers from about 3,850.