DC Murder Rate Nearly 3 Times Higher Than COVID Death Rate
A new report reveals more people died in Washington, D.C., in July at the hands of others than from COVID-19, with nearly three times as many homicides as there were COVID deaths at a time when the city continues to face a surge of violent crime.
WTTG-TV reported Monday, “In the month of July, D.C. Police say there were 21 homicides. According to the most recent COVID-19 data for the city, 8 people died from the virus in July.”
Among the latest murders was the killing of a teacher and father of four who was shot on Saturday night. Kervin Sanches, 31, died in a double shooting that left another man wounded.
According to the report, no arrests have been made.
Missouri Republican Rep. Billy Long tweeted the report following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision last week to reinstate the Capitol complex mask mandate.
#Washington #DC murders outpace COVID-19 deaths in July; police investigate after father of four shot, killed https://t.co/MzEDTi3x0a
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) August 2, 2021
Many have argued the mask mandate is a political statement rather than a policy based on science.
Pelosi argued the move follows the updated advice of the Centers for Disease and Prevention. Lawmakers caught not wearing a mask in the House are subject to a $500 fine.
The Washington Post also reported that “in July alone, 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney was killed while with her family in the Congress Heights neighborhood in Southeast Washington; gunshots outside Nationals Park sent fans in a stadium of 30,000 scrambling for cover; and on July 22, the 14th Street shooting left two men injured and many residents shaken just weeks after a man was killed by a stray bullet in the same area.”
The report comes two weeks after gunfire outside of Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., caused a mass exodus of fans from the stands who feared the shots were coming from inside the stadium.
As a result, the contest between the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals was suspended in the sixth inning, according to The Associated Press.
“It was just a chaotic scene,” umpire crew chief Mark Carlson told the wire service. “We heard what sounded like rapid gunfire. We didn’t know where it was coming from.”
According to police, gunshots were exchanged between the occupants of two separate cars, the AP reported.
Two people who had been one of the cars were questioned after they showed up wounded at a local hospital for treatment.
“People were down on the ground, kind of petrified, trying to calm down the younger kids,” Ted Borenstein, who attended the game, told the AP. “I was taken aback, I was scared.”
I’ve never seen what is happening at Nationals Park pic.twitter.com/PcRtZpA89i
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) July 18, 2021
A bystander who had been attending the game was among those wounded. She was outside the stadium at the time, according to the AP.
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