More Shots Fired Last Night – This Time at 13th and Kennedy

by Prince Of Petworth August 1, 2016 at 9:50 am 12 Comments

A reader reports:

“We heard 8 or so shots last night. Nobody hit. Car window shot out. Neighbors and I saw a shirtless guy jumping backyard fences to get away on Georgia. Haven’t heard many shots this side of Ga. the last few years.”

Anon

Roughly what time of night did this occur?
Mr. Eagan

About 10:30pm
Concerned

I would like more details on this. As the OP noted, it’s rare for this stuff to spill over west of Georgia Ave (as bad the other side of Georgia is right now). Anyone?
lrds

Same block as my (well-beloved) day care. This freaks me out. I would love a better sense of what is going on and would love the feeling that my concern won’t result in a “gosh, you must be new here, this isn’t a big deal.”
Michael

I just sent an email to the District 4 MPD Commander and Brandon Todd. Hope to get a strong response on what they are going to do to triangulate around the crime that seems to be rampant around Kennedy and GA Ave. (highly encourage everyone to email / call them to ensure they hear from the community).

Bigger question is a gut check from my neighbors. Are things going to get better? When we moved in three years ago (I live on 13th at Hamilton) the area was quiet – a bit gritty – but with signs of community investment. Wife and I have whipsawed between loving what is going on (Slims! Swampoodle! Crossfit!) and horror at the random shootings that happen only blocks away. Early this year we decided to give it 12 months – we are now at the midway point – and it seems to be getting more grim.

Have others talked with MPD or Brandon Todd – gotten anything that makes them feel “better”? What do people think? Ack.
- Anon
  
  As others have noted, violence west of Georgia Ave is quite rare. I do not think it is realistic to expect the drugs and violence east of Georgia to simply disappear at some arbitrarily established point. Kennedy and Georgia intersection totally sucks, but investment is steadily starting to come on Kennedy Street, and things will eventually change.
- Someone
  
  Hi – I’m a few blocks south of you, so I’m familiar with the area. I think things will continue to get better, and then spike worse, and then get better again. I think the overall trend will be toward getting better, but that’s not a fast moving trend. If the violence (mainly a few blocks east of you, and occasionally nearer) is too much, then moving isn’t a bad idea. I don’t mean that in a mean / get out kind of way. It’s just a factor of living in the area. You won’t be the first (or last) to move because of that – it’s just a matter of how important that is to you.
  - eva
    
    Agreed, and I’ve lived in the area for a very long time. Because my trend line is so long it all basically looks “better” from where I sit, and it doesn’t hurt that my house has doubled in value in that time. That doesn’t mean nothing bad ever happens or that spikes of violence aren’t occurring, but those are outliers in my trend line simply because of where it started. I can see how if you are new to the neighborhood your trend line might look like it’s going down.
- Longfellow Street
  
  I’m on Longfellow and 13th. We’ve been there for five years and I think the neighborhood has gotten significantly safer. These things are pretty micro-level, though. Two problematic houses on my block sold in short succession and it was like someone flipped a switch. Things improved virtually over night. Please don’t leave. You sound like someone who genuinely wants things to get better. We need you in the neighborhood to work on civic associations, join the PTA, advocate for the neighborhood, and, yes, call the police and meet with them when bad things happen.
  - Michael
    
    Thanks all for the words – hearing about the longer time horizon does help – and frankly we love our house and all of the things that make the neighborhood great. It’ll just take time for investment to come to our little stretch of Georgia… hopefully not too long!
- Neighbor
  
  You can check out crime stats for a certain radius (say 1500 feet) of any address here: http://crimemap.dc.gov/. Generally, it looks like violent crime in this area is down (somewhat) year-over-year, while property crimes have risen slightly. (The exact numbers you get obviously depend on the address and time period you select.)
Mr. Eagan

MPD’s 4th District says incident was related to car theft. Maybe the guy shot out the windows then robbed car? No idea, but I definitely heard shots. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MPD-4D/conversations/messages/31465

On positive side, police officers were on the scene very quickly — like two minutes tops. And I do think the area is safer, mostly. Obviously still lots of gun violence on Ga. Ave and around 7th and Jefferson.

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