On Wednesday, the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Antwan Gilmore by a D.C. officer marked the most recent shooting in D.C. The 27-year-old man was found armed and unconscious behind the wheel after a 911 call was made at 2.45 a.m., alerting the police to his presence.
Antwan reacted to the presence of police officers by moving his car forward. He stopped when the officers asked him to. However, he moved his car again, and officers shot at his vehicle multiple times.
It is, however, not unusual to hear the sound of gunfire in D.C. In fact, just last month, eight-year-old Faris, a fan caught up in the Nationals Park baseball stadium shooting, told reporters, “It was my second shooting. So I was kind of prepared. I am always expecting something to happen.” According to her mother, the girl had heard a man get shot to death as she was playing with her friends.
As of Tuesday this week, 13 people were injured in 9 shootings and two stabbings across D.C.-all under twenty-four hours. And between Saturday and Sunday, at least six shootings were reported in the district. The majority of the shooting occurred in the Southeast, with five of the six happening there.
And in July this year, murders in D.C. outdid COVID-19 deaths. In July, eight people died from the virus, whereas 21 people were murdered. The month closing with the death of a 31-year-old educator at the Hope Community Charter School. Kerbin Sanchez was killed 45 minutes to midnight in a double shooting 700 miles from O’ street Northwest.
According to Washington DC crime statistics, the rate of assaults committed with a gun has risen every year since 2018. In 2021 alone, alone 455 assaults have been carried out using a gun- A rise from last year’s 422.
During a press conference announcing the arrest of a suspect connected to the fatal shooting of 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney, Mayor Muriel Bowser stressed the need for additional police recruits and increased community engagement. Bowser promised to send an additional $11 million supplementary budget to the council to hire 20 new officers. She also asked the police to maximize the use of overtime to increase their presence in D.C. It might be early to tell if the changes implemented will affect as shootings are still rampant in D.C.
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