The Washington Post has a good sum-up of Thursday’s events at the Van Ness Days Inn, but here are some of the key elements:
Five people were shot during a party in one of the hotel rooms. One woman later died from her wounds. Investigators were trying to piece together what started the shootout at around 3:30 a.m.
The room was registered to people from Maryland. For a few months in 2020, the Days Inn was one of the District’s Covid-19 quarantine sites for the unhoused and others could not isolate in their own homes. The District has said that it is no longer using the hotel as a shelter. There is no evidence that unhoused people were involved in the shootings.
Mayor Muriel Bowser made a point of saying so while addressing an afternoon community meeting called by ANC 3F chair Claudette David.
There is no evidence that any unhoused people were involved, and Bowser specifically rejected that link: "I don’t want to conflate this incident with that because that’s not the case," she said forcefully.
— Martin Austermuhle (@maustermuhle) January 27, 2022
2D Commander Duncan Bedlion, MPD Chief Robert Contee, and Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh also spoke.
Cheh took note of the crowd of neighbors who had gathered, saying it “reflects the fact that the community is extraordinarily concerned with the rise in crime.” Cheh was referring to a recent increase in police calls from Van Ness and Forest Hills.
Police said they have received 278 calls about the Days Inn in the past two years, 73 of them in the last six months.
Over 2 years ( 2020 & 2021 ) @DCPoliceDept was called to @DCDaysInn on Connecticut Ave NW, where 1 person was murdered & 4 others shot last night, 278 times including 17 assaults & 17 domestic violence @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/zGmEFDvuci
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) January 28, 2022
Days Inn is a Wyndham Hotels brand, but the location at 4400 Connecticut is managed by Coakley & Williams Hotel Management. Director of Operations Jamie Howser declined to comment on community concerns when contacted by the Post but offered up a statement with prayers for the shooting victims.
In its own statement, Van Ness Main Street expressed sadness for the victims, and revealed that the hotel property and adjacent parking lot and parking garage were recently listed for sale through CBRE, which says the updated Comprehensive Plan allows for two residential buildings on the three parcels.
Claire says
We’re the people involved staying there as regular hotel guests? Or were they part of a program other than the covid one?
FHC says
The room was registered to people from Maryland.
lilk says
@FHC Thank You. I recognise that we need to better support the low income, homeless, alcoholics, mentally ill. But to automatically blame them is frustrating.
lilk says
Please stop blaming everything on covid patients, the homeless, the poor.
Crime is higher all across DC, the metro region, and the whole entire USA.
There was a shooting by Logan Circle: https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/homicide-1400-block-p-street-northwest . Do you blame that on the low income and homeless too?
Green Eyeshades says
The Washington Post reported this on Friday about the Days Inn Massacre early Thursday morning:
“… an apparent gun battle broke out in a single room of people who for the most part knew each other, [MPD Police Chief] Contee said.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/28/days-inn-shooting-victim/
A “gun battle” is a battle between guns, plural. More than one gun.
The Post story on Friday revealed one woman was killed, a 20-year old white woman from “Southern Maryland.” The Post added that, as of Friday, “… two women were still being treated for life-threatening injuries; two adult males were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. There had been no arrest related to Cleary’s death.”
MPD claimed on Thursday it had recovered one gun, according to a story in the Post updated just before midnight on Thursday night.
“D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said officers found a handgun at the scene ….”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/27/four-people-shot-udc-nw-dc/
But the Post story on Friday called it a “gun battle,” so how many other guns were involved? Who were the shooters? Where are the shooters now? Were the shooters also from “Southern Maryland.”
Does the Post use “Southern Maryland” as code for some part of Maryland that is not on the Eastern Shore? Why didn’t the Post identify the residence of the woman who died?
FHC says
Southern Maryland is the common regional term for Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties. Cleary was from Waldorf, in Charles County.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1487142849988763660
Green Eyeshades says
Channel Five news reported on January 28 that the shooting victim is white, based on the photo they included in their story:
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/northwest-days-inn-hotel-shooting-victim-identified-as-20-year-old-dasha-cleary
WTOP reported this on Friday, January 28:
“Dasha Cleary, 20, of Waldorf, Maryland, was one of five people shot at about 4 a.m. Thursday at the Days Inn on Connecticut Avenue in the Van Ness section of the District.”
https://wtop.com/dc/2022/01/dc-police-chief-ids-woman-killed-in-days-inn-shooting/
Why was WTOP able to identify the victim’s residence, but the Post could only say she was from “Southern Maryland”?
NBC News channel four reported this in an update Friday afternoon:
“Police described an exchange of gunfire inside a room.
“Contee declined to say whether any bullets exited the hotel room but said the incident was mostly contained to one room. A handgun was recovered at the scene, he said.” [snip]
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/multiple-people-shot-in-northwest-dc-police/2950852/
So, again, it is clear that “an exchange of gunfire” means THERE WAS. MORE THAN ONE GUN, but MPD has recovered only ONE gun.
Jesus56 says
I am not trying to diminish the loss of this young lady, but.a quick google check of her name shows that she was most likely a working girl. I don’t this was a random armed robbery that went wrong. Most likely it was an issue regarding trafficking. Here is her Twitter page. Tragic. https://twitter.com/dashacleary2
Green Eyeshades says
There was indeed a major gun battle at the Days Inn on January 27:
“Thirty-two bullets from two different guns were gathered at the scene, along with a handgun in the parking lot.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/19/days-inn-dc-shooting-arrest/
This is the headline and sub-headline:
“D.C. police arrest 18-year-old in fatal shooting at Days Inn”
“Gerald Thomas is accused of killing Dasha Cleary and injuring four others at the hotel in Northwest D.C.”
This is the lede and three following paragraphs:
“An 18-year-old who allegedly opened fire inside a Days Inn in Northwest D.C. has been charged with second-degree murder of a 20-year-old Maryland woman.
“Gerald Thomas, of Temple Hills, Md., appeared in D.C. Superior Court on Saturday, pleading not guilty in the death of Dasha Cleary.
“Standing before Judge Laura Cordero in white sneakers and dark clothing, Thomas listened as his lawyer argued that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that he hadn’t acted in self-defense. His aunt and mother, seated at the back of the courtroom, watched as the judge decided to detain him, pending his preliminary hearing.
“In the charging documents, police outlined how a surprise birthday party on the fifth floor of the hotel — a place neighbors had complained about for attracting crime — had devolved into violence on Jan. 27, leaving four people injured and Cleary dead.”
There are extremely graphic details in the Post story which I am not quoting here. It should be enough to contemplate 32 shots into a room full of party-goers.