Unsolved Transgender Murders and Shootings Grip D.C.

[William769]

The murder of one transgender woman and the nonfatal shooting of another in Washington, D.C., over the weekend have prompted growing alarm and questions about the police response to a series of unsolved crimes in recent months.

Early Saturday morning, a Latina transgender woman died of an apparent homicide in northwest D.C. Police have not identified the victim or any suspects. Then on Monday, a transgender woman went to the hospital after being shot in the neck early in the morning in southeast D.C., according to WUSA.

The latest incidents suggest a pattern of violence sweeping across the city while the police department fails to contain the growing threat, although the crimes may or may not be connected. Since July, at least two women have been murdered, in addition to multiple shootings and other attacks, including one incident last month in which a drunk off-duty police officer opened fire on three transgender women and two male friends in northwest D.C.

“I would say it seems like it’s almost open season,” said Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, who lives nearby in Montgomery County. “I don’t recall D.C. becoming a shooting gallery like this.”

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/09/12/Wave_of_Transgender_Murders_Grips_DC/

[lonestarnot]

1. Very sad.

[readmoreoften]

2. "In which a drunk off-duty police officer opened fire on three transgender women..."

>>" including one incident last month in which a drunk off-duty police officer opened fire on three transgender women and two male friends in northwest D.C."<<

And people wonder why trans people are murdered at an alarming rate. Can you imagine if police opened fired on three heterosexual, cisgendered executive females and their two male friends? It'd be national news. Some people are more important than others in America. A lot more important.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. When I went to DC on an extended trip back in '89, it was a shooting gallery

There were news stories nearly every night about someone getting shot, usually in the SE part of the city.

[Skittles]

4. K&R