Shaw

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A reader passes on from the MPD3D listserv:

“I write with a bit of a scary and disappointing update. My three-year-old and I were held up at knife point yesterday [Nov. 10th] as we left the Kennedy Recreation Center around 12:30 pm. We are fine, just shaken.

Based on my conversations with MPD over the last two days, I encourage you all to stay vigilant, take routes with a lot of foot traffic (I was on Marion, which is pretty quiet), and to minimize using your phone while you walk/keep your phone somewhere secure (this wasn’t my issue, but per MPD grabbed phones out of hands and strollers are the most common robberies with a child present).

I hope that no one takes this news as a reason to avoid Kennedy – I think we are safer and happier when everyone is out fully participating in our community.”

MPD responded in part:

“…we have deployed the Crime Suppression Team to this area to investigate these numerous complaints. We are still actively looking into your concerns and our Third District Detective office is investigating the robbery that occurred on Tuesday.”

“Dear PoPville,

I witnessed an attack last night around 8pm on my walk home right by the Shaw metro, in the median between the library and the 7-11 on Rhode Island Ave. A group of teenagers came up behind another young man and took him down, then kicked him in the back and – this was the worst part- one of them savagely stomped his face. Then they kept walking toward the metro. A number of bystanders stayed around to help, call the police, and give statements. The victim was conscious and talking after a few minutes, but he didn’t seem to know his assailants. He said they took his bag as well. Police, emergency response, and an ambulance arrived fairly quickly and a cop called me a couple hours later to ask me to go over my statement again. They hadn’t caught the perpetrators yet.

It was scary to witness such casual violence. There was a lot of blood and I really hope the guy is okay. It’s a good sign that he was able to answer questions from the fire department guys.

Does anyone have tips for observing useful details when something like this happens? I felt so bad that I saw it happen but couldn’t have picked one of the people involved out of a lineup. It felt like it happened so fast and I couldn’t process what I’d seen quickly enough to get relevant identifying details. And I didn’t want to chase after the group as they sauntered away.”

Ed. Note: A reader recently wrote that the police advised them to look at the attacker’s shoes and provide a description of them.