More Shootings in Washington Stir Demands to Stem Violence

A flurry of shootings overnight, including three killings, accelerated demands Wednesday for tougher action to stem rising violence in the nation’s capital.

“No mayor anywhere could be more unhappy about this situation than me,” said Mayor Marion Barry. “If I had the solutions for these killings at my fingertips, I’d stop them. It’s frightening, it’s sad, that we’ve come to this point.”

Paramedics responded to 14 reports of shootings Tuesday, 11 of them between 6:30 p.m. and midnight, according to Twyla Geraci, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Ambulance Service. Five of the 14 were false calls or people refusing treatment. She did not know if other shootings might have occurred without ambulance calls.

The slayings, combined with the death Tuesday of a teen-ager who was shot the previous night, raised the total of lives taken in the first 45 days of 1989 to 75, compared to 46 at the same time in 1988. The total for all of last year was 372, a record for the city.

Police officials and the mayor have blamed drugs for most of the recent homicides. Barry recently curtailed Operation Clean Sweep, the police department’s program targeting street drug sales.

Barry promised a major announcement on new crime fighting strategies by Monday. But since budget problems will prevent him from hiring many new officers, some police officials predict the city will try to deal with the crime wave by moving officers from safer neighborhoods into drug-plagued sections.

Some council members called for more drastic action. Council member H. R. Crawford renewed his call for the National Guard to patrol notorious drug markets.