What happened on 13th and Fairmont St.?

Einahpets23

Does anyone know what happened on 13th and Fairmont St. last night around 9:30? I drove by and saw police tape, and about four cop cars, along with someone video taping.

geep · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 49

There was yet another shooting.

GforGood · Joined: 11 Jul 2006 Posts: 606

Yeah.. soon CH will be empty, everyone will be shot to death.. bullet proof vests, anyone? This is getting retarded.

bogfrog · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:35 pm Post subject:

Last night? Are they all connected? This time, we didn't get any message from Councilmember Jim Graham on the email distribution. For the other recent shootings, he had explained some of the details. I wonder if there is a detective on the trail as to whether these are all springing from the same root?

Melissa · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

Its amazing how much happens that doesn't make the top of the MPD3 listserve. It gets buried in the arrest log that gets posted. In addtion to the tragic shooting at 14th/Girard, three days later someone on 1300 block of fairmont was shot in the leg. ANd then the next day, after my roommate noticed blood all over the sidewalk, we had to dig and dig to find out that ANOTHER violent crime happened on the block. This time a woman stabbed a man in the parking lot of the faircliff east apts. Typically a magnent for trouble. ANyhow, it was a domestic dispute. I guess I am wondering how that happens in the parking lot with faircliff "security team" supposedly patrolling the parking lot. I have lived in the neighborhood for 6 months now and I am already looking to move to baltimore. I never thought I would see the day when moving to b'more would be a safer alternative but I can definitely afford to live in a better neighbohood there. this is out of control.

bogfrog · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject: I'm starting to hate DC too

Melissa,
I am sorry this is how you feel about the neighborhood, 6 months later. Is the problem coming from certain apartment buildings? I realize I don't know how to track all the crime records, and I'm not on the PSA 302 listserv so just look at it periodically. It just takes a few bad things to sour the whole experience.

Actually I was planning to post some reasons I'm starting to feel sub-human in DC. I don't feel like the police officers and city officials treat us as fellow human beings. It is extraordinary for me to think that for all the 20+ years I've lived in various cities (NY, DC, and abroad) I've never previously had the desire to move to a "Live free or die" part of the country. My encounter with the police yesterday morning was similar to the one described here: http://www.binformed.com/entry_detail.cfm?entryID=71&postID=268#268

And on a recent Monday, I waited in the car to dump some garbage at Fort Totten for an hour and a half. Not once did a staff member walk by (or put up a sign) saying, "We're cutting down some trees today and beginning construction, there will be a one hour delay and they we'll only allow two vehicles at a time. The whole process will be back to normal this Wednesday if you would prefer to come back at that time."

I really don't hate cities, and I don't want to live in a hunting shack out in a rural area with no paved roads, but I can't believe the lack of respect for fellow humanity in Washington.

Melissa · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

its only getting worse. I went out of town this weekend came home and someone has pried the bars off the basement window of our condo and broken into the basement and stole some bikes. That is one committed criminal, not sure how he got the bars off. Cops just said that its likely the guy will try to come back. Last night I noticed 9 or 10 teenagers rummaging around a rowhouse contruction site at 10:00 pm. I know they don't work or live there so I call the cops thinking this was a "crime in progress" and drove around the block and came back 10 minutes later and they were still going through stuff. Not sure what constitutes a crime in progress in CH anymore. 14th and fairmont is terrifying. The constant harassment and threats and racist comments from the guys at Faircliffs apts and outside of the 7 days mart are frightening. Once I am in my house, I don't leave until the next day. But I guess until someone gets shot going to target, our elected officials will continue to use our tax dollars to finance the slumlords running most of those properties on those blocks of 14th.

nkatekwan · Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 43

Hey Melissa--

I'm really sorry you're having this experience. I hope you're not offended if I ask whether you spent a lot of time on this block before choosing to buy/rent your place? And if you did, whether your experiences then mirrored what you are experiencing now (I'm assuming they didn't or you wouldn't have moved in!)?

I've been in Columbia Heights for nearly four years now, and my experience has been that the crime situation is really block-to-block. The two blocks I've lived on have been really great and I've had fantastic relationships with my neighbors and the folks whose homes/apartments I regularly walk past, but there are other blocks that I would make a point of avoiding, particularly after dark. Has this block really changed a whole lot recently, or was it that way when you moved in?

bogfrog · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject: Block-by-block

It's difficult to know the safety of a block before moving. The seller is likely going to say what you want to hear. The neighbors don't know you yet, and they may or may not open up. I do feel exceptionally lucky on my block with the warmth of the neighbors (and their families...) but it's not something one can always know in advance. It's helpful when neighbors tell you "don't talk to such-and-such a person" or "stay away from a certain house, it is a rooming house for drug addicts" but this only happens after some time has passed. Maybe a listserv like this can provide some help. My neighbor said the Garfield apartments on 11th are a source of trouble... in case this is news to anyone. I hope that the environment can be improved to make certain blocks and apartment buildings much safer for the people who live there! It is a shame, and seems like a mystery of urban design to me why some buildings end up like Sursam Corda and others are perfectly safe places to grow up and raise families.

AM · Joined: 22 Jun 2007 Posts: 14

Melissa,

I'm sorry about your break-in and other problems. Crime hotspots are a block to block thing. I live up on Spring near 14th and things are much mellower, judging from what I read on this board. If you can't move (it's just not an option sometimes, I know!) I would suggest you walk around more, in the daytime, just to try to figure out the lay of the land and get to recognize who's who of the folks who hang out. There are good people and bad people everywhere. 14th & Fairmont need not be terrifying. For me, familiarity breeds greater comfort. Anyway, that's just my advice, take it with a grain of salt (or disregard it) if you wish. Again, I'm sorry to hear about the break-in. I went through that (not at my current house!) and it really sucked.