WASHINGTON — In a span of 72 hours, 13 people were shot in the District, including 16-year-old Jaime Zelaya and his best friend, 17-year-old Wilfredo Torres. The teens were murdered when a gunman went into Zelaya’s home and opened fire, according to police.
D.C. police chief Peter Newsham said he believes the suspect used a rifle.
A violent video also circulated on social media earlier this month, showing a man being gunned down by a suspect using what appeared to be an assault-style weapon in Southeast, D.C.
Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to say D.C. has an illegal gun problem, leading to dozens of shootings and murders because the firearms are easily accessible. It's a point Bowser is also taking to the campaign trail with Mike Bloomberg.
During Bloomberg’s "End Gun Violence Tour" in Arlington earlier this month, Bowser said, "We can't stop illegal crime guns from coming across our borders in states that won't regulate them."
Bowser wrote a letter to Virginia lawmakers before their General Assembly session convened, demanding they pass tougher gun laws. She cited statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
ATF's data shows that more than 40% of illegal firearms recovered in the District are traced back to Virginia.
Between Feb. 17 and 24, officers in DC Police's Gun Recovery Unit recovered 38 illegal firearms from people who shouldn't have them, including six teenagers.
The youngest person arrested was a 15-year-old boy from Northwest, according to police.
Most of the firearms seized are handguns, but officers are also taking rifles and so-called "ghost guns," which police said are a growing problem.
"It's a weapon that can't be traced, so we can't trace the weapon back to its original source," Newsham said.
Police found more than a 1,000 firearms in D.C. in 2019, 1,928 in 2018 and 2,191 in 2017, according to MPD data.
Officers in the GRU aren’t just finding these firearms on criminals, but in vacant buildings, bushes and even abandoned cars.
A $2,500 dollar reward is still being offered to anyone who can provide information to police that leads to the recovery of an illegal firearm hidden in the city.