Read More "Photos: Shooting, Columbia Heights" »

When it comes to public transportation, residents of the greater Washington area are relatively fortunate.  Metro trains and buses come with relative frequency, they are clean (for the most part), and they can accommodate the masses of commuters and tourists that congregate in this city.  But since Saturday, four people have died at local transit stations.  Shouldn't this be cause for some concern about the system? Read More "Public Transit Woes: How Safe Are We?" »

The Associated Press is reporting that the Holocaust Memorial Museum guard shot today by a gunman has died at George Washington University Hospital.

He has been identified as Stephen Tyrone Johns, and had worked at the museum for six years.

UPDATE, 5:10 P.M.: The museum has posted a statement on its Web site: "There are no words to express our grief and shock over today’s events at the Museum, which took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Officer Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty, served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’s family. We have made the decision to close the Museum Thursday, June 11, in honor of Officer Johns and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory."

Sgt. David Schlosser just gave a briefing on this afternoon's shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Here are the key points:

*A lone gunman entered the building around 12:50 p.m. The man was armed with a long gun, and it's unclear at this point whether it was a rifle or a shotgun.

Read More "Latest on Holocaust Shooting" »

5:28 p.m. Update: Von Brunn appears to be the classic drifter with stops in New York City, Maryland, Florida, California, New Hampshire and back to Maryland. NY Daily News interviews his ex-wife: "'He used to make the statement that he was going out with his boots on,' she said."

"Because of the arson attack in California, we were afraid for the baby's safety -- and our own. We bought a house near Hanover, NH. I acquired a real estate broker's shingle. I listed several commercial properties including a Holiday Inn, and some prime acreage. Again, money was tight. Brokers were folding their tents. I supplemented my income by free-lancing layouts for local advertisers and an ad agency there. I sold two oils at a Dartmouth exhibit; another was stolen. In the evening I used Dartmouth library to research the Federal Reserve System. I met a conservative professor of Economics and knew I was on to something after learning the FED was a private corporation. Unable to earn a living, I was now on the run.

My wife, despairing of my unprofitable obsession, wanted to return to Maryland, which we had fled 10 years earlier. In Maryland I placed my R-E brokers license with Coldwell Banker, in Annapolis. Brokers in Maryland also were falling like autumn leaves. I set a record for listings, but interest rates discouraged buyers. Banks were foreclosing, repossessing valuable properties for a song. I attended a real-estate brokers' meeting in D.C. Paul Volcker, FED Chairman, was keynote speaker. One of his memorable remarks to the large nervous audience was: "You guys are going to hate me because tomorrow I'm going to bankrupt you." Sure enough, there followed a repeat of the Florida fiasco. Prime-rate was raised and America was plunged into an even deeper depression. 'Kill the Best Gentiles !'"

4:30 p.m. Update: City Desk just obtained the police report filed in Superior Court from Von Brunn's kidnapping case. It reads:

"On 12-7-81, [unreadable] at approximately 1155 hours the defendant entered the Federal Reserve Board located at 20th and C St. NW, went to the second floor of that location and was confronted by W-1 [witness one], who is employed at that location as a security guard. The defendant then placed a .38 Smith and Wesson, five shot revolver in W-1's stomach. W-1 [called]  other security personnel for assistance and the defendant was eventually disarmed."

The police account goes on to state:

"Also confiscated from the defendant were a Remington 12 gauge shotgun, which he had concealed under his coat, a hunting knife, and a camera case which the defendant advised contained a bomb. Only books were found in the camera case.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Department were summoned and the defendant was subsequently arrested.

After being advised of the miranda warning the defendant gave a written statement (See PD 118) advising that his actions were politically motivated and that he intended to take the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and its members hostage in order to allow to voice his opinions over the media."

The police document notes that Von Brunn refused his one phone call.

Read More "Shooting At Holocaust Museum; Alleged Perp James Von Brunn Had Criminal Record" »

After two officers were injured and a suspect was fatally shot early Saturday morning at Champlain and Kalorama streets in Adams Morgan, Councilmember Jim Graham got on the Listserv, of course. Rather than merely informing residents of the incident and investigation, he offered up some pats on his own back for efforts to open Champlain at what he describes as the "NOTORIOUS" spot where it deadends under the Marie Reed breezeway. Graham let us know that he's secured the funding for this project and pushed for bids to go out June 2.

In a phone interview today, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Bryan Weaver lifts the veil of tension between him and his councilmember on this issue. "When you use the incident as a way to push...personal agendas, it's not fair to the police officers who were shot and on the scene immediately, who took the life of another human being."

And it's not about Champlain's dead zone being particularly dangerous, he says. "In many ways, [the closed street] is a perfect storm of bad city managment, bad public policy, and conditions of a wildly gentrifying area, cultivated in one area."

But, yes, says Weaver: "It probably is time to open the breezeway."

Read More "Grahamstanding on “Notorious” Champlain Street" »

Via Prince of Petworth: Councilmember Jim Graham couldn't help but speak out on last night's shooting in Mount Pleasant. A teen---apparently a 13-year-old---was shot in the ankle. Graham writes:

"I am told the boy did not live in the immediate area but may live elsewhere in Ward 1.

MPD tells me he will fully recover.

But now we have the allegation that there is a drug house operating at 1833 Monroe that has been reported to MPD. And further than the shots may have come from that vicinity."

Shooting, 1989

The D.C. Police have reported a fatal shooting took place on Wheeler Road SE early Tuesday morning. In a press release, the department writes:

"At approximately 12:08 am, on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, members assigned to the Department’s Seventh District responded to the 4300 block of Wheeler Road, SE for the report of the sounds of gunshots.  Upon arrival on the scene, officers located an adult male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.  He was subsequently transported by DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The decedent in this case is identified as 22-year-old Richard B. Robinson."

Yesterday, an important moment came between all the memorials and tributes marking the two-year anniversary of the massacre at Virgina Tech. Two victims' families filed lawsuits in Fairfax County. The families of Julia Kathleen Pryde and Erin Nicole Peterson had opted out of the $11 million settlement and had to meet a two-year time limit to file suits. They met their deadline.

Good for them.

Read More "Remembering And Fighting For Erin Peterson" »

Yesterday, the U.S. Park Police were involved in a shooting of a District resident at 2nd and K Streets NE. The shooting took place in the early afternoon.

Davin Tarr was home working on his taxes. He was sitting on his couch in his 11th Floor apartment on Eye Street between 2nd and Third, he says, when he heard a pop, pop, pop.

And then Tarr heard another pop, pop, pop. "There were two bursts of them, pretty close together," he recalls.

This wasn't the normal city noises he was used to. Tarr decided to see what was going on outside his window.  According to the park police, Tarr apparently heard the officers fire on Ronald Hughes after he allegedly struck one of the officers with his car.

Hughes managed to drive off. Tarr was able to capture his failed escape.

Tarr grabbed his Nikon D300 and began snapping away at the scene below which he posted on Flickr. The photos have generated a fair amount of comments as they detail the standoff between Hughes and the Park Police.

Tarr's photo series shows Hughes attempting his getaway, sputtering into a wall and then driving down 2nd Street NE until a police cruiser boxes Hughes in. Hughes--who was injured in the shooting--is eventually dragged out of his car by his undershirt. "They were mostly trying to get his shirt off of him," Tarr says.

“At that point, he wasn’t putting up much resistance or anything," Tarr adds. "The cops were acting pretty professional in my layman’s opinion. They acted swiftly but carefully.”

Read More "One Photog’s Perspective On Park Police Shooting" »

D.C. police have made a flier asking for information about the shooting death of Durval Martins. The 35-year-old was shot and killed walking home from Fox & Hounds in Dupont Circle yesterday morning.

The flier includes vital info [PDF] so take a look. As of yesterday afternoon, police had no suspects and no firm motive for the shooting. A $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the murderer.

If you have information, call Det. Paul Regan at (202) 425-5563 (cell) or (202) 645-0472 or Det. Doug Carlson on (202) 486-0233 (cell) or (202) 645-6360; if you'd prefer to stay anonymous, call 1-888-919-2746 or send a text to 50411.

We wrote about the Logan Circle murder earlier today. As many of you know, at around 3 a.m. this morning, a 35-year-old man was shot in the head and killed walking home from Fox & Hounds. The man's name is Durval Martins.

Acting Lt. Brett Parson was on the scene of the shooting, which took place at 11th and Q Streets NW. We just got off the phone with Parson. Here is what he had to say:

“I was on the scene. It was horrible. We got a 35 year old who is dead as a result of an apparent gunshot wound and we got no suspects at this point. We have no motive whatsoever at this point.

The theory right now and it’s only a theory is we're looking at it as a botched robbery and we don’t have any conclusive evidence of a motive....

He has a very large family. I did not know him. His family has been notified at this point. He has family as far away as Portugal and also California, locally he has a brother that lives in Virginia. He has many brothers and sisters. He has a surviving mother....

He was a waiter."

Parson says he notified the family at six or seven a.m.: “It’s never easy to notify a loved one. It’s a task that no one wants to do. I can only hope that we do it in a sensitive professional way that somehow cushions it in some way. But there’s no way to do it and not be anguished. It’s the worst phone call you ever have to make.”

The Green Line is really taking some hits lately. First there were the incidents this past weekend. And now a man was fatally shot yesterday afternoon near Howard University.

WJLA reports that the shooting took place at 4th and W Streets NW. The location is about a block from Howard University's campus:

"The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. Shortly afterward, police officers from the Third District arrived at the scene and observed a black male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

D.C. resident Theresa Price heard the commotion, rushed out of her apartment and saw what appeared to be a male teenager wounded in a nearby alley. 'All I heard was boom, boom, boom, boom,' Price said."

On Saturday it was the ice pick incident. And now a murder. This is ridiculous.

Last night's brazen shooting outside of Marie Reed is, according to Councilmember Jim Graham, the first killing in Adams Morgan this year. Although, he notes, there has been violence. (Yeah, we know. Some of it pretty awful.)

Cops have taken to sitting in their cars in the dark area where Champlain Street dead-ends because it's a well-known problem area. (Yeah, we know that, too.) The street is eventually going to open up, limiting its dark corners, which is a great move.

But about the shooting: No one feels at ease when someone gets shot to death in their neighborhood, especially when the shooting happens in a playground near a busy commercial strip at 8 o'clock in the evening. Especially when the shooter gets away. And, especially for some on my neighborhood forum, when you live in Northwest near what you think is scary Section 8 housing.

Leave it to the yahoos on the Adams Morgan Listserv to blame the murder on public housing even though "I fully support it," says "Dave."

Having lived on 18th street for 5 years now, and on a daily basis drive by the corner of Kalorama &  Champlain, it's because of the section 8 housing that exists there. On dozens of occasions my wife and/or I have been harassed by groups of guys just "hanging out" on the corner there. Whether walking by with the dog (which we don't do anymore) or driving by, it's unbelievable what goes on on that corner. I understand the need for subsidized housing, and I fully support it. But this is where one of the main problems in our neighborhood lies. Having a cop sit in his car around the corner from here obviously doesnt deter anything, as proved by yesterdays shooting.

This is the classic liberal B.S. disguised as "concern" that is the hallmark of some squeaky wheels in Adams Morgan. Fortunately Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Bryan Weaver gets his facts straight: The scary housing where people "hang out" is a resident-owned co-op. I guess "Dave" will have to find someone else to blame, I mean other than the murderer who open-fired.