Washington DC recorded its first murder of the new year just an hour after midnight on New Year's Day.
Police responded to a call in the 4300 block of Military Road around 1:18 a.m. Monday and found a woman who had been shot inside a hotel room.
The victim, identified by police as 18-year-old Ashley Hines of Clinton, Maryland, was found unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but Hines died at the scene.
FOX 5 DC reports Hines was celebrating with a group of people in a hotel room at the Embassy Suites in Friendship Heights. When one person was asked to leave the party, he pulled out a gun and fired into the crowd, according to the report.
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The first homicide of 2024 in Washington, D.C., was reported just an hour after midnight on New Year's Day. (FOX5DC)
Detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect was 5 feet 6 inches tall and was wearing black clothing and a black ski mask. The man was last seen leaving the scene on foot.
According to FOX 5, several stabbings, another shooting and three armed robberies were also reported on New Year's Day.
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Police say 18-year-old Ashley Hines of Clinton, Maryland, was shot and killed in a hotel room on New Year's Day. (FOX5DC)
Washington, D.C., hit a 23-year high in homicides last year and had the fifth-highest murder rate among large cities in the United States.
There were 274 homicides reported in the district in 2023, an increase of 35% from the previous year. Carjackings nearly doubled and auto thefts increased by 83%. Violent crime increased nearly 40% over the year, according to data released by the city.
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Police vehicles responded to a report of a shooting in the 4300 block of Military Road. (FOX5DC)
Washington, D.C. City Councilman Matt Frumin said in a statement that stopping gun violence must be a “top priority” for public officials.
“Early this morning, a gathering of a group of friends at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Friendship Heights turned tragic when members of the party shot and killed a young woman attending the gathering. “My heart goes out to the family and friends. People celebrating the New Year are now grieving the death of a loved one,” Frumin said, adding that his office contacted the Metropolitan Police immediately after the shooting.
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Mr. Frumin, along with Washington, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, announced that he will host a public safety forum at the Cleveland Park Library on January 17th at 6 p.m.
“I am confident that the police are doing everything in their power to apprehend the shooter,” he said. “Our city faces an epidemic of gun violence that affects all residents, regardless of age, income, or borough. We have to work together.”
