Posted on 02/16/2003 2:19:17 PM PST by pabianice
By David A. Fahrenthold
THE WASHINGTON POST
Feb. 15 -- â?" D.C. police released a startling surveillance tape yesterday that shows a daylight killing at a Northeast Washington gas station and witnesses doing nothing to report the crime or tend to the victim as he lay bleeding on the concrete.
The videotape shows in gruesome detail the Jan. 31 slaying of Allen E. Price, 43, of the 2100 block of Fourth Street NW. Police said they were shocked by the apathy of those who were there, including one man who continued pumping kerosene after looking briefly at Priceâ?Ts body.
At a time when homicide detectives are struggling to solve cases, police officials said the tape depicts the astounding levels of meanness and indifference they confront on the cityâ?Ts streets. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, police and prosecutors watched numerous cases collapse as witnesses were shot or intimidated. In this instance, several people at the gas station did not appear to be frightened but seemed not to care after the shot was fired and the gunman ran.
â?oThatâ?Ts just one of the worst things Iâ?Tve ever seen,â? Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared yesterday after screening the tape at police headquarters. â?oThere just arenâ?Tt words to describe something like that."
The shooting happened quickly and with no apparent warning near the large Florida Avenue market complex, in a crime-ridden area just blocks from Gallaudet University.
After the shooting, one witness â?" who was just feet away from the gunman â?" looked for a moment at Priceâ?Ts body and then turned away. Not only did he finish pumping his kerosene, but the man paid for the purchase and drove off, giving the camera its clearest look at Price lying by the pump. Police have not found that customer.
The manager, Philip Donkor, said yesterday that he did not hear the gunshot from his bulletproof booth and was not aware of the shooting until a customer told him. He said he found Price on his back...
Ramsey has been criticized by D.C. Council members and others for rising homicide totals and for homicide clearance rates that are lower than the average for other cities. The chief has contended that witnesses who could help police get killers off the streets do not come forward...
(Excerpt) Read more at ma-firearms@world.std.com ...
Another gun law will solve the problem. ;^)
I was returning a rental car to Union Station -- which is right across from the Capital. I took the car only one block from the back entrance to Union Station, in order to re-fill the gas tank prior to return. Unbeknownst to me, I had entered the "wrong" neighborhood -- although I was still in clear sight of Union Station!
While I was pumping gas, a car pulled up, young thugs jumped out and began attacking the small plexiglass booth where the cashier sat. (Everyone was african american except me, at this point.)
Another young thug picked up a metal trash can and started swinging it at the plexi-booth, trying to smash the glass, laughing all the while.
While I stood there, dumbfounded, a taxi cab whooshed into the space beside me. The cab driver rolled down his window spoke to me in a heavy russian accent: "Buddy, you're in the wrong place -- you better get out of here."
He quickly drove away -- his words snapped me out of my trance, and I jumped in the rental car and drove back --quickly -- to Union Station.
Once there, I quickly found a cop and relayed the story -- to an indifferent shrug of a response.
Exactly. This is just pathetic.
I thought the Liberal mantra was not to take matters into your own hands but call 911 and let the police handle it?
Obviously, this man was a good citizen. He didn't pull a gun and give chase nor try to stick his nose in and intervene in any way. That could have gotten him or innocent bystanders hurt and sparked another lawsuit or gotten another criminal revolving through the doors of the overburdened "justice" system of DC. That just would have cost that poor city more money.
This upstanding citizen was just doing his Washington, DC civic duty. He should get kudos from the Chief, not snide remarks!
After all, if 2,000 DC cops couldn't decide whether Shandra was murdered, nor find her body when it was under their noses and they had lots of clues, nor pick up the evidence at the crime scene when somebody stumbled onto her bones - why should they worry about your ordinary Washington, DC kill-and-run which can't get any face time, not even as much as the Sniper Story?
At least the guy paid for his kerosene. They ought to be grateful for small victories!
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