Two teens were wounded in last year's shooting in a gang-related incident, and community leaders are being proactive this year by taking steps to keep violence from cropping up again.
Officials in Washington, D.C. area taking steps to ensure a violence-free Easter after a shooting marred festivities last year at the National Zoo.
Two teens were wounded last Easter Monday from gunshots in an incident that threw a damper on an African-American tradition at the zoo, but zoo officials and community volunteers say they are working together this time around to avoid another similar situation, according to a Washington Post report.
Zoo officials have put up some temporary fencing that sends the visitors to security checkpoints where their bags and purses will be checked, as well as run through metal detectors.
The security measures were enacted after last year’s incident, when two male teenagers were shot about an hour after the end of the family day and as visitors headed out of the zoo onto Connecticut Avenue. Authorities believe it was a 14-year-old gang member who was targeting rivals who were from Prince George’s County.
This new effort is being called “Operation Safe Zoo” by organizers. Tony Lewis Jr., a local activist, will stand post at the zoo as part of a number of volunteers to prevent a repeat of violence. A total of 50 volunteers will work with youths both inside and outside the zoo to quell any tensions that may arise. Lewis said they were only there to be “positive role models,” according to the report.
Volunteers will be charged with calling police if they spot any trouble. The police will also be on hand at the event.
The violence led to some residents in the Woodley Park area to call for the tradition to end, but activists want it to continue. It wasn’t the first incident, as there had been two other attacks in the previous 14 years at or near the zoo on Easter Monday, including one incident where seven people were shot in 2000, and another where a teen was stabbed in 2011.
