Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) First District Commander Tasha Bryant appeared before Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B during their regular meeting Sept. 13 to discuss two crimes near Eastern High School (1700 E. Capitol St. NE).
On Tuesday afternoon, MPD received a call Tuesday afternoon for sounds of gunshots near Eastern High School. Bryant said officers recovered one casing, but no victims.
“No one has walked into the hospital, so right now this is a recovered casing,” she clarified, as opposed to a shooting. the casing is being submitted to forensics to determine if the firearm that it came from was used in another crime.
Commissioner Denise Krepp (6B10) called the commander the same afternoon. Krepp told the meeting that a neighbor heard the gunshots and watched the kids scramble. “Our kids, DC kids deserve to be in a better environment,” Krepp said.
The gunfire comes only ten days after a man was found dead across from Eastern High School. Bryant said at the time, officers weren’t sure how he was killed; neither acoustic detection system Shot Spotter nor residential cameras recorded any clues. He was found unconscious but breathing face down.
Bryant said the man was stabbed in the face with a blunt object. There may have been a dispute between the man and others that led to his murder, Bryant said, noting that police may have found a witness since the event. Krepp offered to write a community impact statement to get the killer in prison.
The commander also discussed the Sept. 9 carjacking of an Amazon driver that happened around 9:30 p.m. Two black males wearing dark colored clothing approached the driver, showing him guns, and took his car. Bryant said people witnessed the driver scream and ran after his vehicle, landing on trunk. The carjackers drove three blocks before the man fell off. He is injured but will recover, Bryant said.
Bryant said the reason the driver reacted as it did was because it wasn’t the first time his vehicle had been taken while on a delivery. “I never want to encourage people to chase after property,” she said. The car has not yet been recovered.
Bryant said she understood his position but urged residents and visitors not to leave their car unattended and unlocked or running. “In his defense, you were delivering our packages to our property, like we want to get our Amazon packages, we want to get our Uber eats. But I’m always sending out messaging not to ht those hazard lights.”
The vehicle, a 2005 gold Honda Accord with Maryland tag 9EW5077, is still unrecovered.
Anyone with information about these cases 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.
