DC Police Chief Updates Public on Jan. 27 Shootings in DC

By D.C. Witness Staff - January 28, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Contee III provided the public with updates on four shootings that happened on Jan. 27.

He gave an update on two different homicides- one of which occurred in a Days Inn hotel on the 400 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW. A 20-year-old woman, Dasha Cleary, was shot and killed during this incident. 

“I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Dasha, this is a very very tragic incident that led to the unnecessary loss of a life,” he said. “Certainly, she deserved better.” 

No arrest has been made in relation to this homicide. 

Later that day, 17-year-old Kyle Richards was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound on the 4000 block of E Street, SW. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Contee said a 26-year-old who had been staying in the apartment because she was friends with the victim’s brother was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The shooting seems to investigators to have been an accident. 

“We see tragedies when people are negligent when handling a firearm,“ he said. 

He also gave updates on two nonfatal shootings that occurred that day, including one that followed an argument between two men in Columbia Heights. 

“The Metropolitan Police Department has been working very hard in the area not just in building the community relations up there but improving community relations up there,” Chief Contee said, explaining that officers had just been nearby doing community outreach. 

This shooting occurred just before 4:00 p.m. on the 1400 block of Irving Street, NW. Police soon responded and arrested 18-year-old Christopher Frank. He was charged with assault with intent to kill and carrying a pistol without a license. 

The final update was for another nonfatal shooting. Police learned of this incident because a woman showed up to a local hospital with a gunshot wound. She was attempting to leave her residence in the 2100 block of North Capitol Street, NW, when two people shot towards the home, striking the woman.

Two additional people were seen leaving the residence, one of whom was armed. A 14-year-old, a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old were arrested in connection with the incident.