Alexandria has seen an 18% overall surge in crimes against people and property so far this year, according to Part I crime statistics recently released by Alexandria Police.
There has also been a 47% increase in car thefts, a 19% rise in thefts overall and a 15% rise in felonious assaults.
Alexandria has seen a spike in the number of shots fired calls over the last two months, and police are asking the public for help.
“While there is no acceptable level of gun crime, we are especially concerned about recent incidents in which conflicts between people have escalated to the use of firearms,” Police Chief Michael L. Brown said in a statement. “As we continue to make progress in these cases, we ask for the public’s help in providing any available information.”
Alexandria was dominated by violent crime events this week.
The second murder of 2020 occurred on Sept. 30, and ALXnow identified the victim as 57-year-old John Harding Pope. Mayor Justin Wilson and members of the City Council offered their condolences and said that justice will be served.
William Olson says that his nine-year-old autistic son was improperly interrogated by an Alexandria Police officer last year.
On Thursday, Olson and a number of students, parents, and representative from the Alexandria NAACP, Tenants and Workers United, and Grassroots Alexandria told the School Board at a public hearing that it should not renew its bi-annual memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Police Department to provide school resource officers at city schools.
ALXnow has identified the victim from Wednesday’s murder in the West End as John Harding Pope.
Pope, 57, was shot at his home in the 5900 block of Quantrell Avenue in the Mayflower Square apartment complex. He later died at the hospital.
In response to the city’s second murder, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said the city must redouble its efforts to “get these dangerous criminals and their weapons off our streets.”
“I am saddened to hear that another Alexandria neighborhood has experienced this horrific violence,” Wilson told ALXnow. “I know that our Police Department is working around the clock to bring the perpetrator of this homicide to justice and I have every confidence they will be successful. I keep the victim and his family in my thoughts during this extraordinarily difficult time.”
Alexandria Police say that multiple guns were drawn in an attempted evening robbery in the 5300 block of Sanger Avenue. A helicopter was used to try to locate the suspects, who walked up to a group and drew guns.
The incident occurred at 10:40 p.m., and was reported on Twitter at 11:10 p.m. It is located a mile from where a man was shot and killed earlier in the day.
A 57-year-old Alexandria man was shot to death on Wednesday afternoon in a residential neighborhood in the Landmark area.
The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. Alexandria Police found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound in the 5900 block of Quantrell Avenue. The man later died at the hospital.
Beyer Accuses Trump of Racism — “Just more straight-up racism here from the man who couldn’t disown white supremacy on a national stage 24 hours ago.” [Twitter]
Alexandria GOP Chair Says Residents Fear Being Republican — “He said that the local Republican chapter is in full support of Donald Trump. He believes that Republicans in Alexandria may be silent but significant… He shared that many local Republican supporters fear repercussions if they make their opinions public.” [Alexandria Living]
A 56-year-old man died after a crash in Old Town North on Tuesday, according to Alexandria Police.
Meigs Hodge died after being transported to the hospital, police reported on social media. Police did not say which car he was driving.
Alexandria is experiencing an uptick in violent crime, with police reporting incidents all over the city.
Today, ALXnow broke the story about a West End shootout that left at least two people injured and has so far yielded two arrests. There were also a number of violent crime events that occurred during late night hours over the weekend in Del Ray, as well as calls for shots fired in Old Town and the West End on Friday and Sunday evenings.
