WASHINGTON — The District’s mayor and police chief provided an update on homicide investigations Wednesday, detailing a number of recent arrests and calling for the public’s help in solving a pair of open cases.
“We’ve seen things slow down,” Police Chief Cathy Lanier said of a rash of violent crime this year. “The rapid arrests and bringing people to justice makes a huge difference.”
Investigators have closed 12 homicides over the past 30 days in the District. Police are still searching for two suspects in separate homicides: William Lewis and John James.
“We still have two more cases where we have suspects identified and we need the community to tell us where they are,” Lanier said.
Lanier attributed much of the recent success in closing cases to receiving help and cooperation from members of the community.
“We won’t stop investigating until we can bring justice to these families,” added Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Both the mayor and police chief said illegal firearms have exacerbated the recent spike in crime. In the past four months alone, police pulled 450 illegal guns off the streets.
“We’ve got too many illegal firearms out here with these high-capacity magazines,” Lanier said. “That really has contributed to an increase in the number of lives lost.”
