The very day last month that the District of Columbia was arguing in a federal appeals court against President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to help protect the city, David Michael captured a daylight shooting on his patio cam at his LeDroit Park home.
Three men drove up to an intersection, got out of their sedan, spread out in the street and let loose with a hail of semiautomatic gunfire — more than two dozen distinct shots can be heard.
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Mr. Michael tells “Seen, Heard & Whispered” that it’s not an isolated incident. He’s tallied at least 20 shootings within a couple of blocks of his home.
In one video, a police cruiser is sitting at the intersection when gunfire erupts a half block down the street. An apparent getaway car zooms right by the cruiser, which slowly drives off, leaving a jogger shrugging her shoulders in dismay.
Mr. Michael says the National Guard could help.
“While our city’s leaders were fighting in court to remove that protection, my family and neighbors were living through another shooting,” he said.
The culprits are believed to be rival gangs.
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that it has dedicated “substantial resources” to the LeDroit Park neighborhood during this past year.
“These efforts include deploying dedicated officers in marked police vehicles to increase visibility and deterrence, expanding patrol supervisor coverage, and installing a mobile trailer camera with a 24-hour live feed to our Real Time Crime Center,” MPD said. “We have also increased both overt and covert camera coverage, regularly deployed our Crime Suppression Team with support from federal partners, and continued consistent operations by our Narcotics Enforcement and Robbery Suppression Teams.”
Mr. Michael said the police are already in the neighborhood, but it hasn’t solved things.
“We need those senior federal resources because what we’re facing are armed death squads, and the current approach isn’t stopping them,” he said. “The shootings happen right in front of police cars, so we’re not convinced that continuing to pay police overtime to sit on our block will deter anyone. And we’re frustrated with the non-pursuit rules that let shooters simply drive away.”
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