Violent crime in District is down overall for first quarter of 2018, but homicides up - Washington Post

Two people were critically wounded in separate attacks in the District in the closing hours of Saturday, a day that ended the first quarter of 2018.

In the first of the incidents, a woman was stabbed about 5 p.m. in the 1900 block of Ninth Street NE, and about two hours later, a man was shot at Congress and Upsal streets in Southeast. In both incidents the victims were left unconscious, police said.

The attacks came hours before the conclusion of the first three months of the year, a period in which the total number of violent crimes reported to police decreased to 929 from 1029 in the same period last year. The drop is about 12 percent.

However, the numbers increased for two particularly troubling crimes, homicides and robberies in which a gun is used.

The number of homicides rose about 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, increasing to 32 from last year’s 28, according to the latest available police data.

The number of gun robberies in the first quarter of this year also rose, according to police figures, to 199 compared with 184 in the corresponding period of 2017. The increase is about 8 percent.

Gunpoint robberies are regarded as a key barometer of public safety. Criminologists say they are more likely than homicides to involve a confrontation between strangers, and showing a gun often prompts more fear among victims and others than a robbery in which no weapon is used.

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