WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Residents in the Southeast D.C. neighborhood of Congress Heights are left wondering how to move forward after two mass shootings in April.
The first left four men with non-life-threatening injuries on Sunday, April 2, along Martin Luther King Junior Avenue. Detectives say an AR-15 was sticking out of the window of the suspect car, which was last seen heading south toward South Capitol Street.
The most recent incident that left seven men injured occurred Friday night, April 21, at 5th and Lebaum Streets in Southeast, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
A 12-year-old girl was also found with gunshot wounds on 2nd Street Southeast. All people injured are expected to survive.
"I am concerned for the 12-year-old girl that is in the hospital," said Greg Hawkins to WUSA9. The Congress Heights resident says he has been living in the neighborhood for 13 years. Although crime in the area tends to fluctuate, he says the shootings seem to be happening more often and closer to his home. "It's the norm. It's gotten so bad I don't even duck anymore and that's sad," Hawkins added.
On Sunday, Apr. 16, a nine-year-old girl was also struck by gunfire in Southeast D.C. according to police. Investigators say the girl was shot in the back as she was riding in the back seat of a car on Shippen Street Southeast. MPD does not believe that the girl was the target.
"Kids are coming to school with trauma. This young lady goes to school in the community, I am sure. All of her classmates at this point know what happened. We don't want to raise a generation of children that are desensitized in our community," said Ward 8 ANC Erica Green.
Green has been at the scene of both mass shootings as investigators are still combing through the evidence. "This is devastating. This is a tragedy, what is it going to take to make this stop," she added. The commissioner says it's time for a multi-agency public emergency meeting to address what is leading to the violence.
"We need more people on the ground here in Ward 8. We have a very particular here in Ward 8, we need special attention, we need special care," Green said.