D. C. police have recorded their first homicides of the new year.
As of early this week, the homicide division of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was still investigating the fatal shooting 16-year-old Bryant Morillo, which occurred Jan. 2 in the 4500 block of New Hampshire, N.W. Morillo lived in Hyattsville, Md.
According to an MPD press statement, officers arriving at the scene around 1:30 p.m. found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a local hospital where Morillo succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
In another earlier shooting the same day, Brian Curtis, 21, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was pronounced dead. That homicide took place in Southeast Washington at 13th Place and Congress Street.
Police were summoned to the area at approximately 7 a.m. after neighbors reported hearing gun shots. When police arrived, they found three victims suffering from gunshot wounds. All three were transported to local hospitals where Curtis was pronounced dead.
According to “Homicide Watch DC,” a community-oriented news Web site that focuses on local murders, 143 people were killed in 2009 – which until last year, had accounted for the fewest homicides in the District since 1966. Overall, MPD recorded 131 deaths from homicide for 2010.
Anyone with information about either of the two aforementioned cases is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099 or 888-919-CRIME (888-919-2746).
In addition, anonymous information can be submitted to DC CRIME SOLVLERS at 866-411-TIPS and to MPD’s TEXT TIP line by text messaging 50411. If the information provided by a caller to the CRIME SOLVERS unit leads to an arrest and indictment, that person will be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.
