DC Homicides Skyrocket in May

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 1, 2018
Featured | Homicides | Infographics | Victims |

As Washington, DC gets warmer and nears the summer season, homicides in the city have increased by more than 100 percent, according to D.C. Witness data.

D.C. Witness documents that 19 of the city’s 61 homicides occurred in May, an 111 percent increase from April. There were nine homicides in April. The city experienced a 22 percent increase in homicides from the same time last year, according to the data.

One of the May homicides was a police-involved shooting by an off-duty officer in Ward 5. The May 9 shooting allegedly stemmed from a dispute between the officer and the decedent, D’Quan Young.

Accounts of the incident vary. A witness told NBC4 that the officer shot up the neighborhood, spraying it with bullets.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham told reporters, during a press conference following the shooting, that the decedent had a gun and the officer did not reload his weapon. The chief also said the two were firing at each other simultaneously, and it was not clear who shot first. MPD is currently investigating the shooting.

A majority of the homicides in May have resulted from gun violence, including a deadly Memorial Day weekend that left Venius Badgett, 35; Jaquon Helm, 40; Alexander Mosby, 39; and Anthony Clark, 24, dead.

According to the MPD website, the department documents 63 homicides as of June 1. Three of those homicides are from skeletal remains found in Southeast DC earlier this year. The DC Medical Examiner has not determined an exact date of death for the remains.

The MPD does not incorporate police-involved shooting deaths into the DC homicide count.

The map is an infographic of D.C. Witness data that shows homicides in May by ward.