'We're tired of it': DC housing residents say gun violence is out of control, want answers

WASHINGTON (WJLA) — Residents in the nation's capital say gun violence rates are spiraling out control.

It's scary. You don’t [know] if they're going to ride past, shoot your house up, shoot your child as they come out to play" a D.C. resident told WJLA's Sam Ford.

At Kenilworth Parkside public housing, residents and management said feuds between young men who live or hang there and young men from nearby neighborhoods are terrorizing innocent people.

My staff cannot be here to clean the grounds, me as the manager, can’t walk the property. We just feel like we’re in prison in our community," property manager Darlene Smith said.

Barbara Dade has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years.

"We're tired of it. I’m too old to be hitting the floor, can’t come to my door, can't come to my mailbox," Dade said

Maintenance workers said they're consistently replacing shot-out windows. They showed WJLA bullet holes in cars, and in a neighboring building, right through the property sign. They said men are randomly targeted.

Metropolitan Police Department's Darnel Robinson said negative rap videos are a source of the violence.

“We have experienced several of those because of music videos and things such as that natural retaliation of violence," Robinson said.

He said MPD is working to provide a presence to try and help reduce crime.

“We’re out giving them as much presence as we possibly can," Robinson said.