A second man has been shot near Watkins Elementary School.
On Saturday, Oct. 16, 27 year-old Devante Waters was shot on the street in front of Watkins Elementary; he later died in hospital.
Police said they were called to the 400 block of 12th Street at around 9:43 p.m. for the report of a shooting. When they got there, officers found Waterssuffering from apparent gunshot wounds. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (DC FEMS) responded to the scene and transported the victim to an area hospital. After all life-saving efforts failed, Waters was pronounced dead at hospital.
Witnesses said that Waters was the victim of a drive-by shooting that took place about the middle of the block, between C and D Streets SE. One bullet shattered the front window in the home of Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) Kirsten Oldenburg (6B04), who was fortunately asleep in another part of the house, she wrote in a letter to constituents.
It is the third murder on Capitol Hill in eleven days.
On Wednesday, Oct. 6, 26-year-old Aaron Wiggins was shot on the field at Watkins Elementary School after what police described as an argument during a football game. Two days later, 23-year-old Giovanni Lovelace was killed on the 1700 block of Independence Avenue; three other people were injured in the same shooting.
At a Monday press conference, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Robert Contee acknowledged the number of homicides are unusual for the area. “We know first and foremost that it is not the area where things like that normally occur,” Chief Contee said at a Monday press conference.
Contee said that investigators were making great strides in the Saturday shooting, saying the investigation has found that the individuals involved in Water’s shooting Oct. 16 had no association with the area. He said that officers were making great strides on the case.
“It’s the same message for every community, not just because it’s Capitol Hill,” Contee said. “When we have violent criminals that we identify in communities, and the Metropolitan Police Department arrest those individuals, we need to be about the business of ensuring accountability across the board.”
“What it should not look like,” Contee continued, “is when these individuals are arrested, they’re back out in the community not long after they commit some of these acts that they’ve committed.”
ANC 6B is hosting an online public safety meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtcequrT8vE9UqmtekzAUuq71L8uwyxLgk After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
The Metropolitan Police Department offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a homicide committeed in the District of Columbia.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s Text Tip Line by sending a text message to 50411.
Oct. 18, 9:38 p.m.: This story has been updated to include comments made by MPD Chief Robert Contee at a Monday press conference.
