The US Capitol City

[Athos131]

13 people injured in shooting on D.C. street corner overnight

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/up-to-11-people-shot-on-dc-street-corner-overnight/2013/03/11/d7c5197e-8a39-11e2-a051-6810d606108d_story.html

A drive-by shooting early Monday on a D.C. street corner that has been repeatedly touched by violence left 13 people wounded, one of them seriously, police said.

The shooting took place on North Capitol Street at New York Avenue in front of Tyler House, a crime-plagued subsidized apartment complex that police said is one reason the neighborhood has struggled with gun violence even as redevelopment in nearby “NoMa,” or north of Massachusetts Avenue, has redefined the area.



Those wounded in the shooting — the youngest of whom was 17 — were struck mostly in the arms and legs, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said the seriously injured victim was hit in the back. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening.

Detectives are seeking information about two cars seen driving past Tyler House, an eight-story residence, at the time of the 2:10 a.m. shootings. Investigators were scrambling to interview witnesses and the wounded, who were scattered at three city hospitals. Police posted a video that they said captured a portion of the shootings and showed pedestrians falling into a small heap on the sidewalk.

“Everybody was screaming,” said Jonique Douglas, 21, who had just come out of the Fur Nightclub around the corner and was standing in front of Tyler House when the shots rang out.

“They shooting like directly at us,” she said, adding that she and others began kicking and punching Tyler House’s locked door, where Douglas said she used to live, to get to safety. “It coulda been a bloody mess.”

But she said there was no one to let them in. Douglas said people in the group began to fall over one another as bullets struck some and grazed others. She said her 17-year-old brother was hit in the hand by a bullet.

The shooting occurred across New York Avenue from Big Ben Liquor Store, on the northern edge of the District’s up-and-coming NoMa district.

Cranes loom overhead, marking new construction that is rapidly filling the empty lots that once dotted the area. New condos, stores and office complexes are rising among apartment complexes that for decades have housed lower-income city residents.

The development activity comes despite sporadic bursts of violence in the neighborhood, including shootings on consecutive weekends in October that wounded a total of seven people outside Big Ben.

DC. Police chief Cathy L. Lanier said detectives had not determined a motive in the more recent shooting, but she pointed at the Fur Nightclub, about a block away from Tyler House, which she said has been a constant source of complaints.

Lanier has temporarily shut down more than two dozen bars, nightclubs or other liquor establishments since 2011, invoking her emergency power in cases she deems necessary to ensure public safety. In most cases, the 72-hour closures come after violence that can be directly attributed to disputes that start inside the establishments.

Lanier and other police officials said people coming out of the mega club Fur, which can hold 1,200 customers, often gather in front of Tyler House.

[joan1984]

 More dems shooting dems, a day in the 'hood.

Seems like Chicago.

Thankfully, full gun ban in DC.

WWOD, if he cared?

[Janus]

  More dems shooting dems, a day in the 'hood.

Seems like Chicago.

Thankfully, full gun ban in DC.

WWOD, is he cared?

Well just think if there wasn't a gun ban...Holy cow. They'd really be shooting each other then.