It Never Ends – Stabbing at 11th and Otis Thursday Evening
06 November 2008 11:02 PM | By Prince Of Petworth in Crime, Crime - Stories, quality of lifeSent from a reader:
“So there was a stabbing like 3 houses down from my house at 11th and Otis tonight. My roommates and I were sitting in our front room when it happened and the cops think it might turn out to be a homicide…
Part of what makes me really sad about this is that there are kids that live right near that intersection. Like right abutting the intersection, the coolest kid in Columbia Heights lives there and I hate to think of her being scared because of this happening. When I was a kid living in a pretty good neighborhood, someone broke into my dad’s car in our drive way. Anyway, it really scared me… I can’t imagine what it does to a kid to know that someone was stabbed (and most likely killed) right there.”
I was feeling such joy from the Obama victory and now I’ve crashed back down to earth. This is why I think it is so important to donate or volunteer to some of these organizations.
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07 November 2008 12:34 AM | M & C Said:
This is pretty insane. We were out o the porch smoking until about 10:15 and then went back in the house. I went back out at about 10:45 and there were 4 or 5 police cars and yellow tape all over the streets right in front of the house. It crazy to think that within 30min someone was stabbed. Later Police detectives and a mobile crime unit were further investigating. The person was apparently taken to the hospital. The police didn’t really know anything. So lets hope this gets sorted out.
07 November 2008 8:13 AM | Otis Pl Said:
Oh, that’s just great.
07 November 2008 8:26 AM | Your a pickle and I am 2 Said:
Everybody knows “the coolest kid in (insert transitional neighborhood name here)”. It’s a way for yuppie or hipster white people to feel good about not being racist.
07 November 2008 8:43 AM | Pukka13 Said:
I was more struck by the “coolest kid” comment than the news of the stabbing. I’ve never even considered who might be my “coolest person” much less a kid. I’m intrigued.
07 November 2008 9:19 AM | NateG Said:
“Your a pickle” – you just made my day. hilarious.
07 November 2008 9:22 AM | Neener Said:
pickle? you know what? the coolest kid on my block in MtP is white.
07 November 2008 9:30 AM | Kay Said:
Your a pickle – why is it always about race?
07 November 2008 9:33 AM | cupcake Said:
really?? someone was killed and you think it is important to try and pick apart someone’s word choice when essentially they are trying to say that it is sad that kids who are just kids as opposed to kids who are stabbing eachother have to live in fear
07 November 2008 9:48 AM | Pablo Said:
“I was feeling such joy from the Obama victory and now I’ve crashed back down to earth. “
That struck me more than the “coolest kid” comment. Is the Obama victory supposed to represent another “holiday from history,” or something? Well, people will keep on doing the same crap to each other, no matter who is in the White House or how “transformational” you think politics can be. That’s an immutable fact of human nature.
07 November 2008 9:56 AM | springroadintoaction Said:
I live right on this block. I walked home while the cops were posted up at the intersections. The cop that was posted at 11th and Spring didn’t know who the victim was or what really happened. Fucking senseless and tragic.
07 November 2008 9:57 AM | springroadintoaction Said:
Pablo:
I don’t think PoP really thought that Obama’s victory was going to change anything overnight. I think he was just riding a wave of elation and this depressing bullshit killed his buzz. Of course, I guess he can speak for himself if he wants to.
07 November 2008 10:14 AM | nate Said:
If you read the papers, you would know that there were killings before the day of the election, the day of the election and the day after the election in Obama’s own city, no less.
People are not going to quit killing people. Especially when drugs are involved. Hope and inspiration only last for so long. Eventually, the novelty wears off. Ultimately, you have to take charge of your own life.
I will go out on a limb here and say that by the time Obama’s term is over, he will be considered an “Uncle Tom” by black people. Black people are going to have lofty expectations for him to stop what ails the black community.
07 November 2008 10:24 AM | felipe Said:
i think it is absurd to focus on the “coolest kid” comment when the real tragedy is that someone was stabbed. it is even more absurd to imply that the person who used that term is racist. clearly, the author is concerned for the girl and there is nothing wrong with calling her cool. i call some of my friends and some people call me cool so who cares about that. the focus should be on finding the person who did the stabbing and trying to prevent this stuff from happening again.
07 November 2008 10:28 AM | Jamie Said:
How did I miss this? I live about 6 doors up from 11th and Otis. Apparently all my neighbors read Prince of Petworth, do I know you people? Anyway, this is definitely troubling. Personally I am a lot more interested in the specifics of this crime than trying to infer anything from word choices here. Does anyone know what happened? Were the participants people who live here? I know most everyone on the block by face if not by name.
On an unrelated note, can we all praise the gods that that moving truck which was taking up 1/4 of the block for more than a week is finally gone.
07 November 2008 10:28 AM | Your a pickle and I am 2 Said:
Thanks NateG. I just had to point out the obvious. I live in a transitional neighborhood, and I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say that or something similar about someone who is a minority. And the funny thing is they would never make that exclamation about someone who is white. It’s very self-serving.
07 November 2008 10:41 AM | Kay Said:
You are right – I could care less about the real tragedy – come on, give me more credit than that. No need to make assumptions about what I am or am not thinking.
07 November 2008 10:45 AM | Pukka13 Said:
Felipe: I think the absurdity is that we live in a neighborhood where assualts and murders occur far too frequently. Is it wrong that I’ve become calloused to this; yes of course, but that doesn’t mean I’m not affected. I wasn’t saying that the ‘coolest kid’ comment was more important than the stabbing, only that it stood out as odd. This is the nature of blog commentary, to serve as a conversation and move from topic to topic….as evident in Jamie’s subesquent reply on ‘that moving truck’.
07 November 2008 11:08 AM | maeella Said:
I was the reader who submitted this, and just so ya know the “coolest kid” comment was laced with no internalized yuppiness/racism. For the record, I actually “know” this kid and her parents (we hang out), and she is generally agreed to be the coolest kid in co heights my my housemates and I. I am not even going to respond as to what her race is because that’s both irrelevant and would, I presume, just make this part of the discussion worse.
Mostly, last night when I was standing outside watching police walk up and down the half a block or so that they had taped off, I looked over and saw the kid in question’s father standing out on the front porch, talking on his phone and trying to talk with police. It just reminded me of this time when a much less scary crime happened on my block growing up, and I remember how frightened I was. The police indicated that it was not “random,” which is some consolation (though not completely, right) and they seemed to feel kind of “you know, it just happens.” They were still diligent, but sometimes you just feel like everyone doesn’t really know what to do about things like that. The fact is, regardless of who the parties involved are and what occurred to make this happen, someone got angry enough at another human being to seriously injure them. According to the police, it “didn’t look good.” To me, this is really sad. Do I feel less safe on my block? No, not really. Do I love my neighborhood any less? Again, no, not really. It’s reality. Do I feel sad that a dad had to explain to his really sweet daughter that someone probably died last night basically in their front yard (where we were shooting fireworks in celebration of Obama’s victory, with she and her parent’s watching and shouting too)? Yes, that does make me sad. Because she won’t forget that, and she’ll always think differently about her neighborhood and the realities of life.
It’s all part of living, but sometimes just sort of resonates, no?
07 November 2008 11:12 AM | WTF? Said:
Did I miss something? How does everyone know the “coolest kid” is a minority… Plus the stabbing is worse than this. The people commenting on the content of the original letter probably live in the nice new condos and have no clue what its like to live in true Columbia Heights!
07 November 2008 11:23 AM | nate Said:
WTF, I did not know that there were TRUE and fake CH residents. Kinda like the REAL Virginians as mentioned by the Mccain camp.
07 November 2008 11:29 AM | Jamie Said:
This reminds me- there was a raid on the house two doors up from me a couple months ago, swat team, riot gear and all. A number of people were arrested. Was this the same house? Is whatever business was being conducted there before the raid, still going on?
Couple pictures of the cops putting away riot gear on 11th…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamietre/3010822034/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamietre/3010820338/
07 November 2008 11:31 AM | Kay Said:
One last time to defend myself and then I will stop posting: I lived in Columbia Heights/Petworth way before most of you ever thought about living in a transitional neighborhood so please don’t preach to me about what I know about the true Columbia Heights. If you would like to hear stories about the true Columbia Heights, please just ask me – because I have plenty to share – where would you like to me to start – stabbing in front of my house, ATF/DEA agents raiding house searching for drug kings pins, stolen police car landing in my front yard, hit and runs out the wazoo,random shooting broad daylight. Really, I am not exaggerating on any of this. So you are right WTF – I know nothing about life Petworth.
To Maella: Thanks for the discussion. I appreciate your thoughts.
07 November 2008 12:12 PM | on11th Said:
Mingus was this your letter? I know you cant type because you have no opposable thumbs, but your owners can read this, Also, they love to sit on the porch until the dawn, sharing their theories on life with the neighborhood…but I digress Ahhh CH, where white people dont talk to white people, except on blogs and listserv…
Do you folks remember just a couple days ago we were dancing on 11th and Otis, lighting fireworks.
07 November 2008 12:14 PM | Anonymous Said:
we all have these stories now.
07 November 2008 12:17 PM | on11th Said:
maeella, i suppose i should have read the entire list of responses before posting…
07 November 2008 12:19 PM | eric in ledroit Said:
“I live in a transitional neighborhood, and I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say that or something similar about someone who is a minority. And the funny thing is they would never make that exclamation about someone who is white. It’s very self-serving.”
way to generalize. my wife and i have definite opinions about who on our block is “cool” and who is not, and people/couples/families/kids of both races fall into both categories. in what way are we being self serving?
07 November 2008 12:26 PM | maeella Said:
On11th- I did…
07 November 2008 12:28 PM | maeella Said:
on11th- Oh wait, ha, sorry. Hey, what’s this about my writing? And when did my name become Mingus…
Seriously though, along with having the coolest kid in Columbia Heights, the 11th Street block definitely had the coolest celebration on Tuesday night. I think we are wrapping up the “coolest block” award, folks.
Did I use the word “coolest” enough?
07 November 2008 12:29 PM | dreas Said:
Some of you people really should be ashamed of yourselves.
The comments on this site have just been getting worse and worse lately.
07 November 2008 12:37 PM | Darkside Said:
“I will go out on a limb here and say that by the time Obama’s term is over, he will be considered an “Uncle Tom” by black people. Black people are going to have lofty expectations for him to stop what ails the black community.”
nate and his daily display of idiocy.
07 November 2008 1:04 PM | Jamie Said:
on11th, representative of Mingus here. If I’ve ever bothered you by staying up til dawn sharing my theories of life, I would hope you would have said something to me before complaining anonymously on the Prince of Petworth blog. Or even left a note in my mailbox. I don’t own a gun, and haven’t bitten anyone in several years, in case that is your concern.
07 November 2008 1:13 PM | christopher Said:
after reading nates comment, i was reminded of the boondocks episode, return of the king. i think obama did a smashing job of not making his skin color even a minute factor in his campaign, and its too bad that the rest of america didnt follow suit. it will be very interesting to see if nates predictions come to pass as everyone, black and white, finally accept obama simply as ‘president’, without any sort of descriptive in front of it.
07 November 2008 1:16 PM | NateG Said:
oh man, this conversation, especially Pickel’s comment made me remember this awesome blog, and this post specifically.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/22/73-gentrification/
your welcome
07 November 2008 1:47 PM | nate Said:
“after reading nates comment, i was reminded of the boondocks episode, return of the king. i think obama did a smashing job of not making his skin color even a minute factor in his campaign, and its too bad that the rest of america didnt follow suit. it will be very interesting to see if nates predictions come to pass as everyone, black and white, finally accept obama simply as ‘president’, without any sort of descriptive in front of it.”
Just wait until a Jena 6 episode or there is another Abner Louima or Diallo. Sharpton and Jesse (he has already said that Barack is not black enough) are going to demand that Barack does something about it. Same can be said for a host of issues. Crime. Disparate Punishment. Poverty in the black community. The disproportionate number of black men in prison. To heck with who is the cause. The black community is going to demand that he does something about it. And when he doesn’t or can’t…
07 November 2008 1:55 PM | nate Said:
“nate and his daily display of idiocy.”
Darkside,
If I had said the same thing regarding Clarence Thomas, I bet you would have made the same comment. Black people were behind Clarence Thomas. Even when it meant disregarding Anita Hill’s point of view. Now look at how lowly Thomas is regarded in the black community.
Just look at how Obama is filling out the appointees. Not a lot of black faces. And I am not saying that there should be.
But when he takes office, he is going to have the weight of the black community on his shoulders to rectify decades of perceived wrongs.
07 November 2008 2:20 PM | Your a pickle and I am 2 Said:
NateG
“oh man, this conversation, especially Pickel’s comment made me remember this awesome blog, and this post specifically.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/22/73-gentrification/”
exactly…LOL
07 November 2008 2:24 PM | yatrakarna Said:
Your a Pickle – what do you say to try to hide your intense racism against white people. Maybe you should seek some counseling so you can transition along with the neighborhood.
07 November 2008 2:47 PM | on11th Said:
Police Probe Stabbing Death in Columbia Heights
By Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 7, 2008; 10:54 AM
D.C. police are investigating the stabbing death of a man last night in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Northwest Washington.
The man, who has not yet been identified, was found with multiple stab wounds about 9:30 p.m. at 11th Street and Otis Place NW, police said in a news release this morning.
He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m.
Police said anyone with information about this case should call investigators at 202-727-9099 or 888-919-CRIM[E]. Anonymous information can be forwarded to the department’s text tip line by text-messaging 50411.
The police department offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person or people wanted for any homicide committed in the District. In addition, tipsters can call D.C. Crime Solvers at 800-673-2777.
07 November 2008 2:57 PM | Your a pickle and I am 2 Said:
I’m white and hate no one. Sorry this crime happened.
07 November 2008 3:25 PM | nate Said:
Othr than the reward, why should anyone turn the killer in? It seems he efficiently killed the person he wanted to kill with little collateral damage. In a city, knifing is much safer and preferable than shooting into a crowd or an occupied car or building. To me this killing was wrapped up rather neatly. Bad guy dies at the hands of an even badder guy. As long as the bad guy does not start knifing good guys, what really is the big deal?
07 November 2008 4:00 PM | Neener Said:
Is the Obama victory supposed to represent another “holiday from history,” or something?
——
Holy Jesus I sure hope so! If not then what the hell, you know?
07 November 2008 4:09 PM | Neener Said:
Nate and Darkside and everyone else who doubts, will start to doubt and will think that nothing really changed…
the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, the Commander in Chief of the United States Army, the Commander in Chief of the United States Navy, the Commander in Chief of the Marine Corps, the Commander in Chief of the United States Air Force, is a black man. To suggest that the leader responsible for the command and control of dozens of nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers, fighter jets, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, marines and sailors is a black man AND that it either doesn’t matter or will fall on deaf ears after a while is just bizarre. If it happens now, it’s because people are too ignorant to understand now, if it happens later it’s because people are too ignorant to understand then. Yes, even though this election proves that the US is no longer a racist society, people keep saying, “Racism isn’t dead.” Well you know, murder isn’t dead either but we don’t live in a murderous society just because some people will murder. The vast majority of Americans put their trust in the armed safety of their country and their children in the hands of a black man and if that doesn’t mean something big and that something has permanently changed you just aren’t thinking about it.
07 November 2008 4:14 PM | reuben Said:
I disagree with Nate. Sadly, I don’t think enough African Americans are pissed enough about crime to blame Obama for the lack of change where that is concerned. A lot of folks like to say that “we” complain too much. Well, I think we don’t complain enough about the impact that self destructive behavior has on the society as a whole. And sorry, but Clarence Thomas is slightly reactionary…. You know, like a bowling ball is slightly inanimate.
07 November 2008 5:09 PM | Anonymous Said:
Nate, are you just trolling now or are you really that far out there? At the most basic level, how do you know the vic was “a bad guy?” I am guessing your logic is something like this. White people don’t generally get in knife fights, so the vic must be black or hispanic, so this must be a gang or drug thing, so the vic must be bad, so he deserved death regardless of what the altercation between them was about, so we should just give the perp a pass since he did everyone a service.
Well, no surprise there, it just reaffirms what I already knew about you. You’re a bigot. Why do you even live in the city if this is what you think? Why don’t you go somewhere safe, like Alaska, where you will never be bothered by all those bad people whose skin isn’t the same color as yours?
10 November 2008 1:51 PM | reuben Said:
Neener- Do you really think racism has gone the way of landlines?