A 12-year-old girl was hit by a stray bullet in the District’s Southeast Tuesday night, making her the latest child caught in the crossfire of the city’s ongoing crime wave.
Commander LaShay Makal said the girl was hit by an errant bullet while inside her house in the 3000 block of 30th Street SE. The girl is in stable condition.
“It’s devastating to know that she was in her home and shot,” Ms. Makal said.
A person of interest has been detained in the incident, but no arrest has been made, Ms. Makal said.
Legal minors have been victimized by the District’s wanton gunfire throughout this year.
Ten-year-old Arianna Davis was mortally wounded on Mother’s Day when a stray bullet struck her in the upper body while her family was driving through Hayes Street NE. A day later, another 12-year-old girl was hit in the leg by a bullet as she was sleeping in a bed.
According to statistics shared with The Washington Times, 61 juveniles have been shot in the District — 12 of them fatally — from the beginning of the year through July 20. During the same period last year, 39 juveniles were shot, 11 fatally.
But Robbie Woodland, a Ward 8 resident and activist with Concerned Residents Against Violence, believes that these incidents are more pervasive than police statistics let on.
“It’s only the shootings, like the one that happened to the little girl [Tuesday] night, that make the news, but we literally go through these types of shootings every single day — it’s like baby Beirut,” Ms. Woodland told The Times.
Ms. Woodland disputes D.C. police statistics that show other wards having higher crime values than Ward 8 — a part of the city that has historically borne the brunt of the District’s worst violence dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.
The gunfire in her neighborhood is so bad that Ms. Woodland will only take her 7-year-old daughter to play outside in Maryland or Virginia.
She added that children become desensitized to crime when they’re surrounded by it. The numbing effect, she said, may influence some of them to adopt criminal behaviors themselves.
The randomness of the shooting death of Arianna Davis in May has upset both family members and law enforcement officials alike.
“This was Mother’s Day, and they were doing what we all were doing today: celebrating the outstanding work and efforts of moms,” Assistant Police Chief Andre Wright said at a press conference shortly after Arianna was shot. “That’s what this entire day should be about. We should be talking about Mother’s Day, not talking about this tragic event of a 10-year-old being shot.”
The family took the wounded Arianna to a fire station to be tended to immediately after the shooting on May 14, and she was then rushed to a hospital for further treatment.
The child remained in critical condition before succumbing to her injuries three days later.
The appetite for justice was palpable during Arianna’s funeral held in early June.
“I’m gonna say whoever did it, didn’t mean to do it,” Pastor Jody Fletcher, Arianna’s uncle, told mourners, according to WDVM News. “But brother, you slipped up, and you’ve got to pay for it.”
A $45,000 reward is being jointly offered by the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI and the ATF for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Arianna’s killer.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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