Anonymous wrote:Why do families want to attend the event on Easter Monday? It hardly seems worth it at this point.

My family will avoid the zoo around Easter 2015 and thereafter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at the zoo but left before the shooting. We go there a lot, and I will say today was definitely an all time zoo record for the number of f bombs I heard being dropped there. Haha.

Tolerance, please.

Hasn't D.C. tolerated enough crime? Are the D.C. police "cooking the books" the way Chicago police do to make crime seem lower than it actually is?

I know a friend reported his car stolen right off Mass. ave a few years back. When he checked back with the police 2 weeks later, they told him they had no record of that stolen vehicle report.

D.C. police are the worst.

Anonymous wrote:

Two years ago, I watched as officers in police cruisers chased 80-100 teens down Connecticut Ave.

Yikes. That must have been something to see.

Yes, it must have. Multiple officers in multiple vehicles chasing 80-100 teens down one of the main streets of the nation's capitol. Yet tragically, in this age when one can't sneeze without being captured on 3 different recording devices, no one was able to capture this incredible (literally) spectacle on their smart phone; no tourist lucky enough to happen by this fantastic occurrence with camcorder running. Even just a few fuzzy frames of 80-100 youths able to outrun multiple souped-up police interceptors would have been advertising gold for a lucky sneaker company, amirite? And with the Olympics but a few short months away... If only the legendary police pursuit of 80-100 teens had been captured on some form of digital media - it is almost hard to believe that such an astounding event wasn't recorded by a single soul. Sadly, the Connecticut Avenue Confabulation appears relegated to the realm of other similar legends. Perhaps it will one day reveal itself to those whose belief is most pure. Because of course to them, to those who truly believe, it is not a legend.

Something to see indeed.

Why do families want to attend the event on Easter Monday? It hardly seems worth it at this point.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
NP here. I don't see any glee, only justifiable fear, confusion, and anger. The anger seems to be about the shooting and riot-type atmosphere in broad daylight in a normally safe neighborhood. The anger also seems to be directed towards the media for giving vague and useless information. I don't know where to turn for credible information since the local media is so vague, hours after the event. I want to know more so I can deduce if my family and I will be safe at the zoo over the next few days (Zhenjiang I was considering visiting). I don't see any glee from anyone. Stop projecting.

Jeff has taken down quite a few posts in this thread. It's true that the media coverage has been pretty vague.

Easter Monday is a traditional AA family day at the zoo, and there have been disruptions in the past, as there were this year.

On any other day, the zoo is entirely safe. Have fun with your family. Bring sunscreen and be prepared for a tough time getting a parking space.

"Disruptions in the past" is a rather euphemistic way of putting a pattern of repeated shootings and violence in or near a normally very safe neighborhood and a national institution visited especially by children. "A bit of unpleasantness" might have been an alternative phrasing...

A shooting in 2000 and a shooting in 2006. So, every six years or so. That's assuming today's had anything to do with the zoo. Certainly not "every year" as one poster would have it.

No, certainly not every year. But the pattern and extent of the violence in conjunction with this event has become a real problem:

-- In 2000, seven victims were struck by gunshots, including an 11 year old boy who was critically wounded in the head. Police and zoo officials at the time said it was the worst incident in 111 years at the zoo.
-- In 2006 there was another shooting
--In 2011 there were multiple fights in the zoo and a teenager was stabbed multiple times.
--Today's shootings reportedly involve two victims,

...and one in 2014. looks like a pattern to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about some facts?
(I don't actually know the answers, but maybe someone else does.)

In the past 15-20 years, how many times have there been shootings at the zoo?

How many of those episodes have been on Easter Monday, and how many on some other day of the year?

There was a multiple shooting at the Easter Monday event (6 or 7) victims in 2000, and another shooting in 2006. In 2011 there was serious violence, but no gunshot injuries, according to press reports on the internet. I can't speak to other shootings at the zoo, but I live in Woodley Park and shootings of any sort in the neighborhood are very, very unusual. However, last week there apparently was a min-riot on the Calvert St bridge, as others have written about.

There was a stabbing in 2011. A 16yo stabbed a 14yo.

Other years, they've had to close the zoo early, because of overcrowding and fighting. Two years ago, I watched as officers in police cruisers chased 80-100 teens down Connecticut Ave.

Yikes. That must have been something to see.

I haven't read the whole thread but what strikes me as particularly disturbing is the time of the shooting. I hear gunfire in my neighborhood maybe 6 to 8 times a year and every couple of years someone gets killed. But the shooting happens almost always at night when few people are on the streets. And I suspect that it's generally planned out. It's not exactly predictable but you have a good idea that you can avoid it mostly (and I keep my mental fingers crossed about that).

What I find unnerving about the incidents on Easter Monday is that they happen during the day when other people are about and they have something of a random quality to them. As if people are not on their normal turf and they run into each other in a strange place and they think it's okay to attack one another in that strange place.

Seriously I feel safer in my somewhat violent but predictable neighborhood than I would on Easter Monday at the zoo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about some facts?
(I don't actually know the answers, but maybe someone else does.)

In the past 15-20 years, how many times have there been shootings at the zoo?

How many of those episodes have been on Easter Monday, and how many on some other day of the year?

There was a multiple shooting at the Easter Monday event (6 or 7) victims in 2000, and another shooting in 2006. In 2011 there was serious violence, but no gunshot injuries, according to press reports on the internet. I can't speak to other shootings at the zoo, but I live in Woodley Park and shootings of any sort in the neighborhood are very, very unusual. However, last week there apparently was a min-riot on the Calvert St bridge, as others have written about.

There was a stabbing in 2011. A 16yo stabbed a 14yo.

Other years, they've had to close the zoo early, because of overcrowding and fighting. Two years ago, I watched as officers in police cruisers chased 80-100 teens down Connecticut Ave.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Apparently many of you did not notice my request to tone things down. At this point in time, nobody really knows what happened today. A lot of assumptions are being made that may turn out to be true, but may not. So, let's all calm down a bit.

With all due respect, I've read that some of the posters here were eyewitnesses to the mayhem.

I live a couple blocks from the zoo, very near the WP elevator where last week's shooting took place. Yesterday, around 5:20, a police helicopter started circling the neighborhood and multiple police cars were flying down my street. Police were obviously searching for someone, and one officer stationed his vehicle--somewhat hidden--right next to my residence. AA teens were running back into the WP neighborhood, seemingly avoiding Connecticut Avenue. Police were pushing them back toward Metro.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
There was a multiple shooting at the Easter Monday event (6 or 7) victims in 2000, and another shooting in 2006. In 2011 there was serious violence, but no gunshot injuries, according to press reports on the internet. I can't speak to other shootings at the zoo, but I live in Woodley Park and shootings of any sort in the neighborhood are very, very unusual. However, last week there apparently was a min-riot on the Calvert St bridge, as others have written about.

Do you have a link to any information about the shooting in 2006? I haven't been able to find out anything about it and the Washington Post article doesn't mention it.

I just watched the lunchtime news and I think Channel 7 said it was in 2004 but they definitely mentioned two other incidents prior to yesterday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in my car on Connecticut right after the shooting. It's odd how none of the new sources report on the almost riot atmosphere that occurred afterwards. People flooded the streets stopping all traffic, banging on car windows, climbing on car hoods. They were not scared either but in party mode. It was terrifying.

Last year my cousins were from Indiana were visiting DC at Easter. The next day, they did the tourist thing and visited the zoo. They said that the whole atmosphere was scary, and vowed they would never go back. I tried to convince them that the zoo is normally very safe. And last year, there was no shooting.

Scary - code for full of black people.

God this thread is disgusting.

I would think "scary"is code for an overwhelming police presence, armed "youth" and an atmosphere of tension and mayhem that (as today) flares into gun violence. Does that work?

Let me guess - you weren't there today or any other Easter Monday. Yes there were extra police out front, no I did not notice many police inside, nor did I know there were armed youth of course, there was no tension or mayhem for the several hours I was there and no, gun violence does not break out each year. You people are insane. I get the feeling a lot of racist people sit around and wait for situations like this so they can pat themselves on the back for their racism.

The shooting happened in my neighborhood. On the busiest street, in front of the zoo and businesses that lots of people frequent. With lots of visitors, passerby and children. This isn't the first time that this event has resulted in multiple shootings and other violence. Excuse me, but I find it repulsive and i am hopping mad about it. And I find you calling that "racism" to be repulsive, too.

FYI, there will be a Woodley Park Community Association meeting at Stanford on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Attendees will include representatives from Metropolitan Police, Second District and the National Zoo. The recent violent events will be discussed.

Anonymous wrote:
There was a multiple shooting at the Easter Monday event (6 or 7) victims in 2000, and another shooting in 2006. In 2011 there was serious violence, but no gunshot injuries, according to press reports on the internet. I can't speak to other shootings at the zoo, but I live in Woodley Park and shootings of any sort in the neighborhood are very, very unusual. However, last week there apparently was a min-riot on the Calvert St bridge, as others have written about.

Do you have a link to any information about the shooting in 2006? I haven't been able to find out anything about it and the Washington Post article doesn't mention it.

my husband came home and told me about the shooting and I feel terrible but my first response to him was "its the Easter monday AA family day" he had never heard of it. I don't think Smithsonian would ever get rid of the event, can you imagine the backlash to that. But I don't understand why any violence happens at a family event. Maybe it should just be marketed as a family event or like a PP suggested, charge admission like they do for other special events. Its a shame.

Anonymous wrote:We need to arm the elephants and giraffes

All jokes aside, it's pretty serious when people, presumably zoo goers at yesterday's event, shoot others on a major city avenue crowded with kids in strollers (in otherwise very safe neighborhood). There is is obviously a pattern of violence over the past 15 years. What are DC authorities and the National Zoo finally going to do about it.

Anonymous wrote:I live in Woodley Park and was driving in front of the zoo in 2011 right after the stabbing. It was total chaos. There were tons of people in the street, banging on cars, yelling and screaming, etc. My kids were scared. Today, as I was driving home from work right around 5:20, I saw several cop cars, helicopters, etc., and I knew that there must have been another incident at the zoo. This event should stop immediately. I think the zoo should close on Easter Monday or make it a ticketed event as others have suggested. If something doesn't change, it's going to end in tragedy (child caught in cross fire, tourist getting shot at zoo, etc.). And there's no way the Smithsonian, the city, police department, etc. will be able to avoid the lawsuit. They are all on notice that this event is dangerous and needs to be suspended.

Natural consequences. I like it.