Latest shooting in NoMa sparks backlash

Dalton Lucas, a first year student at Georgetown Law School, was walking home to his apartment in the NoMa neighborhood of D.C with some of his classmates when he heard gunshots.

“I heard what sounded like pops; I thought it was a tire,” he said. “But I guess in this country, we can assume that it’s probably a gunshot.”

On Thursday, Nov. 7th, two men were shot on the corner of M and First streets NE. According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), both were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive.

Following the shooting, tenants of the two apartment buildings on the block, The Iris and 2M Street Apartments, were told they couldn’t cross the police tape to access the entrance to their building. They were instead sent around the block to use another entrance.

Those renters who were forced to detour were outwardly frustrated and began to yell at the officers, questioning how yet another shooting could’ve happened despite a police car being parked on the street all day, every day.

“If you’re going to have a police presence and over-police a community, and people are still getting shot right in front of the police, then the police aren’t the answer to the problem,” said Lucas.

According to gun violence mapping done by the New York Times, the number of shootings that have occurred on Lucas’ block increased between 2020-2023 when compared to 2016-2019.

In addition, the number of residents who lived near at least one fatal shooting increased by 17% during that same time frame.

Lulu, who didn’t share her last name because of rules set forth by her employer, lives a few blocks away near the Mt. Vernon Triangle neighborhood. Her neighborhood has similar statistics to Lucas’ in terms of gun homicides.

“I mean, just last night, we heard automatic guns just going off back and forth,” she said. “It was like some kind of war going on outside.”

While the District tries to find a solution to the issues, Lulu said the current strategy of increased police presence hasn’t worked, leaving her frustrated.

“There’s a lot of cops stationed on a lot of corners and shit still happens,” she said. “For example, on O Street, there’s always shootings, there’s always robberies, and there’s always a cop car sitting there.”

Pointing fingers

Another woman in her early 30s has lived in the NoMa neighborhood for four years, bearing witness to the spikes in crime and other shifts in the area. She agreed to speak to The Wash on the condition of anonymity due to press policies at her job.

Over those four years, new luxury buildings have been popping up on seemingly every corner. She shared that much of the construction over the last two years has happened on streets perpendicular to North Capitol Street, like M Street NE, where the shooting occurred.

“It is displacing people,” she said. “Now, people that used to spend time on the street in those areas aren’t necessarily welcome there, whether it’s for the construction or because of the new residents.”

Lulu agreed that the uptick in violence could be related to gentrification, citing the jarring juxtaposition of communities that have lived in the area for years being forced to share the space with newcomers.

“A lot of people are having issues, like, adapting to that,” she said. “Some of the new buildings go for [$3,200 to $3,800] right across the street from like, rent controlled apartments where people have been there for years and stuff like that, so it is an even mix between, like, townies and newbies.”

Lucas, on the other hand, while acknowledging the role gentrification plays in igniting community anger, blamed the accessibility of guns.

“I think blaming the community is probably not the way to go,” he said. “Shootings are happening everywhere, no matter where in the city you live or are.”

District issues public safety grants

In late October, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice (DMPSJ) announced 12 community organizations that will receive $2.1 million in grant funding through the Fiscal Year 25 Safe Commercial Corridors Grant Program.

This is the second round of funding announcements, which, according to a DMPSJ press release, “is designed to promote public safety and public health through evidence-based activities for residents, workers, and visitors.”

Lulu’s neighborhood of Mt. Vernon Triangle and Lucas’ of NoMa are two areas of the District that have organizations receiving grants in this year’s allocations. Funding from the grants can be used for a few different purposes, including to hire personnel and increase security presence in corridors.

Isaiah Cromer, spokesperson for the DMPSJ, said in an email that “highlights of the FY24 Safe Commercial Corridors grant include the installation of approximately 90 security cameras in commercial corridors across the District and safety ambassadors working a total of nearly 15,000 hours from March 1 through Sept. 30, 2024.”

He added that the District’s whole-of-government approach has led to an overall reduction in crime across the city.

The NoMa Business Improvement District (NoMa BID) is one of the organizations receiving $2.1 million, and according to Cromer, it plans to use it to install security cameras and necessary equipment as opposed to hiring personnel.

The NoMa BID did not respond to a request for comment.