Sunday, August 24, 2008

Holbrook Terrace Shooting

The victim was 21 year old Kennan Woods. He lived nearby. There is the possibility that this shooting may be related to an altercation that occurred during yesterday's Trinidad Day celebration at the Trinidad Recreation Center.

Coverage-
NBC4
Fox 5
Channel 8

20 comments:

the new lemon said...

I'm thinking about renting a place on West Virginia Ave, but this sort of thing is really making me pause for thought.

Anonymous said...

Tim I can assure you that West Virginia ave, is no where like the east end of Trinidad. It's almost like to different worlds, to know that all of this maddness happens just a few blocks over and is pretty much contained to mostly that side of the neighborhood.

You may see the occassional prostitute on West Virginia ave though.

Anonymous said...

We were just watching Olympics closing ceremony. I thought it would be appropriate for dc to host the 2016 Olympics. I would like to propose Trinidad for all shooting/archery events, RFK for track and field, anacostia for open water swimming, dupont circle for jello wrestling, Georgetown for polo, opening ceremony at the barracks row. Just kidding ..

inked said...

Holbrook Terrace is also in the northern portion of Trinidad, which is where much of the crime tends to cluster. But again, the past few months have been one hell of an anomaly over here.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I am a little disturbed about the the attitude that it is of less concern if it takes place in the northern or eastern areas of Trinidad. Also just for the record this isn't far east Holbrook is, but Holbrook terrace is 2 blocks east of Gallaudet ans West Virgina.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I am a little disturbed about the the attitude that it is of less concern if it takes place in the northern or eastern areas of Trinidad.

The OP wrote they were thinking about renting on WVA Ave, and the 9:20 poster responded that the violence was contained mostly to the other side of the neighborhood.

So the attitude displayed wasn't that violence is less of a "concern if it takes place in the northern or eastern areas of Trinidad", but that it's less of a concern if it doesn't take place on the OP's potential doorstep.

If people are shooting each other 4-5 blocks away from where I live, that's going to concern me less than if they're shooting each other on my doorstep.

Sorry, but that's just the way it is in the actual reality in which human beings operate.

Anonymous said...

Thank You IBC... If Martial wants to feel disturbed then let he/she be because that was not the feeling/intent of my post.

We all know that in most urban settings, things varies greatly block by block and just so be it that West Virginia Ave happens to be one of the better streets in Trinidad.

Crime is crime and it upsets me if it happens on my block, three blocks over, or even accross town.

9:20

inked said...

It's a serious problem for all of us anytime violence occurs in or around Trinidad. It is also a fact that certain types of crimes tend to concentrate in certain small areas. For instance, West Virginia is known to have a prostitution problem [particularly as you approach Mt. Olivet]. I'm very disturbed over this killing. This was a very young man who died that night. But that doesn't change the fact that while the problems are of concern to the wider community [i.e. we all need to be involved in working with the police and community at large], certain blocks have persistent issues.

Anonymous said...

The intent of my earlier post was two point out two things. Trinidad is a neighborhood and if there is a problem in any part of it, I personally believe, all of it should be concerned. And I think we are. My second point was that while Holbrook Street is on the Eastern side of Trinidad, Holbrook Terrace is much further west, and close to West Virginia.

Also I agree that when the shootings were 4 or 5 blocks east on Holbrook Street I was less concerned, but this time, for me, that was not the case, they were much closer to home. I am just concerned the violence is creating rifts in the neighborhood when we, as a neighborhood, need to come closer together.

Anonymous said...

Do you really think the people in G'town give a damn about the crime in Trinidad, much less willing to do anything about it? And on the other hand, as yourself honestly if there was a rash of crime over in G'town, or across the Anacostia River, or over in PG County, one of your first thoughts is going to be, "I sure am glad its not happening here." And are you going to do anything to address crime problems over in P.G. County.

We choose to live where we live for a number of reasons and crime is going to be part of it, but its naive to think that other really care about your crime problem. Sorry.

the new lemon said...

I'm aware of the relative locations of Holbrook Terrace and Holbrook Street. The former may not exactly be my prospective doorstep, but it's still a little close for comfort. For that matter, even the recent triple homicide on Holbrook Street is worrying to me.

The fact that violence has tended to occur at a certain distance from West Virginia Ave does not indicate that it will always continue to do so. Given the random nature of a lot of the violence, it is reasonable to assume that the location of the violence is also random.

This worries me because I don't have a car, and I do a lot of walking. I'm fairly confident that I can withstand the wiles of street prostitutes, but I suspect I would not do as well with bullets

Anonymous said...

Let me tell you all something Holbrook Street, Holbrook Terrace, the whole Trinidad area is out of control. We are living next to murderers who have no regard for human life. It’s so much jealously in the area between this set and that set. It makes no sense. I live in the area and I'm trying to move away as fast as I can. Its ridiculous that you go to sleep to the sounds of gunshots, it’s like something is always happening around there and the killings are the same way. The folks in Trinidad are cowards the men are punks who hide behind their guns. I feel sorry for the mother who lost her son to violence. It’s uncalled for what happen to the days when you just fought. Now everybody wants to shoot instead of facing reality and realizing that taking a life doesn't make your problems go away. It just brings more problems to the person that did the killing.

Anonymous said...

R.I.P TO: Johnny Jeter today is his birthday. He would have been 25 years old today. He was one of the young men killed in the triple homicide on Holbrook Street this year. Also R.I.P to Anthony Mincey who also lost his life that night. They will be missed. This needs to stop. We need more protection in Trinidad there is not enough.

Anonymous said...

It's obvious the police don't have any intention on taking a stance. Why haven't they stood up a substation in the neighborhood? If they do I sure don't know about it. I know people are going to say police presence won't solve anything, but I'll disagree with that everytime. I'm tired of hearing oh the police were right around the corner, they were so close that they heard the gun shots.

inked said...

If it happens within 5 five block of you [and that isn't a max] you should be concerned. I hope people are attending PSA and other meetings. I hope they are calling the cops when they see something. I hope they are meeting their neighbors and participating in the neighborhood. I hope they are doing more than sending emails on a listserv or leaving comments on a blog. I hope we all are. This stuff is just words in cyberspace. But we're looking at a lot of dead kids. They are younger than me. They are younger than most of you, and they are way too young to die. There's got to be an answer. I just don't know it. And that really pisses me off.

Anonymous said...

Move - and let 'em fight it out amongst themselves. Remember they don't want your help. Pretty soon they'll all be dead and then you can move back in to the peaceful neighborhood that you say you want. That's my solution.

I guarantee those who are financially able will leave and the rest of the law abiding residents of the area will dream of the day they soon can.

Realist

inked said...

Realist,

I wouldn't go predicting a mass exodus just yet. I haven't spoken to a single neighbor who has discussed trying to move [and I talk to a lot of neighbors].

It's really easy to post wacked out doomsday statements on the web, but don't go calling yourself a realist when you do it.

Anonymous said...

Exactly Inked.-

I know I'm not planning to move anywhere. Then again I don't hang out side in the wee hours of the mornin hanging on corners, or sitting in parked cars etc...I don't think it's to hard to not see the similarities surrounding "most" of the murders/violent crimes.

Our neighborhood are busy with people walking around during days and they all seem to look comfortable to me.

Anonymous said...

These discussions are always interesting ways of seeing a spectrum of emotional response to incidents like these.

Living in the city's a strange thing to someone raised in the country. It's odd how quickly I can grow used to the idea of other human beings dying within blocks of where I sit playing computer games. I don't accept it, exactly; but there's no denying the acclimation.

And the personal danger calculus is similarly undeniable. I believe in the virtue of being metaphysical about murder: every death is a crime against our common humanity. But on another level, I'm always calculating: was the victim living in the way that I'm living? Does his/her death indicate risk for me? For someone I know?

One thing, though: Trinidad's problems are the same problems we're facing all over America, and they're not just in the inner city anymore. If moving makes you feel better, fine, but many of us moved to the neighborhood with our eyes open, and aren't indignant that the problems of endemic poverty haven't disappeared just because we condescended to set up camp. I'm awfully fond of our neighborhood, and don't consider myself merely "staying"--it's more my home every day.

Unknown said...

I am glad the "northern portion of Trinidad" thing was addressed. Since I used to live in NE Trinidad, if there is such a thing but now live in SW Trinidad, if there is such a thing, I am always concerned with the division of the neighborhood.

I can't ignore the specter of race and class here. I can't lie to myself or buy the BS of others. There is a subtle code, a subtext of bias. I am tired of it. There are people on H complaining about a gas station, and a few blocks away people are being killed.

I just don't get it. There is a website set up to block a gas station. There has been no organized non-governmental effort to help either the victims of these homicides, or to prevent crime.

Maybe, as I said earlier, the poor blacks here should be just driven into tractor tailors and driven a al the internment camps or the trail of tears off to some desolate camp where they can be systematically killed. It would be more humane then the current course of slow death by poverty, insanity, crime and the high handed tactics of people more worried about a gas station, a trolley, and a shopping center. If my dog had terminal cancer, at a certain point I'd put him down. Maybe it’s time to do that in Trinidad.

Imagine, once that was done maybe there wouldn’t be a "northern portion of Trinidad"
There would just be Trinidad, “And the world will live as one.”


‘A brotherhood of man’, but not of brothers.

-Robby