Shocking spike in Washington DC violence with more than 200 murders as victims targeted in stores and their cars

A SIGNIFICANT spike in violent crime in Washington DC has seen more than 200 murders over the last two years, police say.

Residents of the city have been victimized while inside stores and their cars, as officials warn of the rising trend that started in 2020.

NBCThere has been a significant spike in crime in Washington, DC over the past two years[/caption]

EPAMurders, carjackings and robberies have gone up, according to experts[/caption]

Last year, the city saw its highest annual number of murders in nearly 20 years, with 226 homicides reported by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Of those homicides, only 42 percent were solved, Fox News reported.

While murders are down six percent this year, with 59 reported so far, the number of robberies is up by a shocking 54 percent, with 803 incidents so far.

However, the number of assaults with deadly weapons has remained the same when compared this year to last.

In total, violent crime is up 25 percent and property crime has increased by seven percent.

The capital has made national news several times this year for violent crime.

On April 22, Raymond Spencer, 23, allegedly fired about 200 rounds from an apartment window in the city’s Van Ness neighborhood before killing himself.

Four people, including a child, were injured in the shooting, which mayor Muriel Bowser called part of “an epidemic of gun violence in our country.”

The sniper-style shooting happened just weeks after another shooting took place near Nationals Park.

The April 10 shooting happened shortly after a baseball game had concluded in the venue. Two men and two teenagers were injured as a result.

Car theft and break-ins have also risen when compared to last year. Moreover, juvenile suspects have made up the majority of suspects arrested for carjackings over the last two years, per Fox News.

DC City Council candidate Nate Fleming said he was carjacked in January 2022 by masked men in broad daylight.

Fleming shared the video on social media, showing four masked men pulling up in a red SUV and jumping out. One man pointed a gun at Fleming, demanding his car keys. 

“I’m shocked, angry and a bit embarrassed,” said Fleming in a statement on his Twitter. 

“To be threatened at gunpoint is shocking, but I am not surprised to have been attacked given the crisis we are facing with carjackings and violence in general in our city. Increasing public safety is at the heart of why I’m running for a citywide Council seat.”

He claimed that the carjackings are evidence that “the perpetrators of violent crimes are getting younger and younger.

“We must attack public safety as a short-term issue, but we must recognize that violence is a symptom of long-term issues like educational inequality, lack of economic opportunity and the lack of mental health care resources in our community.

Fleming added that police responded to the incident quickly but argued that more should be done to prevent these kinds of crimes through “stronger community-based policing.”

Metropolitan PoliceDC City Council candidate Nate Fleming was carjacked back in January[/caption]

NBC‘We must attack public safety as a short-term issue, but we must recognize that violence is a symptom of long-term issues,’ Fleming said in a statement[/caption]