'I don't want to keep losing people': DC residents talk gun violence issue

Violent start to the year with several shootings in DC

D.C. saw several shootings on Monday as the new year began, and residents say they're sick and tired of the violence.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - D.C. Police are investigating a shooting that left two men and a teen boy injured Monday night.

Officers were called to the scene at Alabama Avenue and 22nd Street SE at 5 p.m. More than two-dozen bullets littered the ground along the road near the Alabama Plaza.

Officials say two of the victims went to an area hospital on their own. All three are expected to live.

But the people who live nearby say the location is a problem spot because as many as 50 to 60 people are often loitering in front of a convenience store.

"If everyone is fearing for their life, or they are all in one spot, everyone is afraid because they don't know when they are going to start shooting, they don't know what's going to happen," explained Laqueda Tate, a local ANC Commissioner.

She says there needs to be more security and more police activity to deter violent crime. She also wants to put a plan in place for community engagement and programming.

"I rarely see officers here, and I’m here every day. It may be a quick slide through but not consistent," she said.

It’s not just local leaders who want something done. FOX 5 talked to 12-year-old Zaire Bradley who lives in the neighborhood and is begging for people to stop shooting.

"I just want to tell the people to stop shooting, cause as a kid it hurts. I lost somebody on May 26th to gun violence and I don’t want to keep losing people. I don’t want to keep losing people. It just hurts," Bradley said.

He was playing football at a local school when the shooting happened and got a call from his grandmother making sure he was safe.

The shooting comes one day after MPD Chief Robert Contee reflected on the 203 homicides in D.C. in 2022. The chief said officers are working to remove guns from the streets and are focused on community policing, but they also need more cooperation from the public.

At this time, police do not have information about the suspects or if the victims were targeted or caught in the line of fire.