Murder, Inc.

The recent shooting death of a 9-year-old boy through his apartment door on the 1400 block of Columbia Rd. has understandably left the neighborhood shocked and rattled. I understand, I live on the 1700 block and ours has not been a neighborhood without violence. However, I wanted to underscore that this year has seen a downturn in homicides so far, as is displayed in this chart of the city's statitstics:

I'm not arguing that this isn't a tragedy, nor am I arguing that the police should do nothing, but I would say that given the unique frictions in our neighborhood caused by rapid gentrification and the impact of the current economic climate, I would not have expected at -22.8% change in homicides over last year. The gang component of this crime, especially given how virulent and widespread this particular group is, is another matter.