9.05pm. after an eleven-hour shift of work i just wanted to pick up some milk. this proved harder than usual today.
first i tried the safeway supermarket conveniently sits between my metro stop called georgia ave petworth and the hostel at 8th street. coming closer to the safeway at least a dozen police cars with flashing bright red and blue lights rose my suspicion. but police tends to be more visible and present and bothering in the united states than in germany. i walked on. but then the safeway parking lot was roped off with official looking yellow and black plastic tape. i dived underneath to find out if i can get milk or not. a police offer quickly shoved me out of the yellow zone again. he said they are investigating a shooting.
naturally i next walked to the tv cameras on another side of the parking lot. a journalist from nbc washington said supposedly there was a shooting of knifing in the parking lot. she wouldn't know more but i should check channel 4 at 11pm.
i moved on to a couple of bystanders at the wendy's across the parking lot. one of them said someone was shot in the head in the parking lot. i should go to the other safeway down the street.
a lot of people stood around. connecting streets where cut off by police cars bathing the area in an eerie flickering light. behind the glass front of the safeway dark clothed figures moved around.
somewhat shocked, confused, and still curios i moved on. luckily there's the yes organic market even closer to the hostel. i tried my luck there. in the cooling shelf bottles with organic milk from a regional supplier invited to buy something special for the special occasion. a friend had recommended the brand and her samples tasted yummy. in pleasant anticipation i took one of the old-fashioned looking glass bottles. they reminded me of a mythical abandoned milk shoot i had seen built into a u.s. house.in defiance to the plastic bag culture in wanted to transfer my pretty glass bottle into my backpack. i let the bag with the milk rest for one moment on a stack of shopping carts. a secondlater it was on the floor with a shattering noise. here we go. no milk for me. the cleaning crew came runing. embarrassed that i had destroyed the special milk for which the special bottle alone was worth $2 i showered them with apologies.
they friendly offered me a fresh bottle in return, to wipe my splattered pants, and asked if i was alright.
sure, eleven hours of work, one parking lot shooting, and one glass bottle crashing later i was okay. with milk.
Posts
1 comment:
Update on Tuesday (Oct. 20) shooting at Safeway/ 3830 Georgia Ave NW
From the Washington Post website:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/20/AR2009102003921.html
"[...] a teenager was critically wounded Tuesday night [Oct. 20, 2009] in a supermarket parking lot in Northwest, D.C. police said.
The victim of the second shooting is 16 or 17 years old, said D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, who went to the scene in the Petworth area. The teenager was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound in the head.
Two people, one reportedly on a bicycle, approached the teen before he was shot about 8:30 p.m. outside a Safeway at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Street.
"It appears that the person who shot him was looking for him," Lanier said. Authorities said it looked like a single shot was fired.
The portion of Georgia Avenue near the scene was shut down, and people were kept inside the Safeway while police investigated.
A blog called "Prince of Petworth" reports similarly quoting Metropolitian Police Department Commander Linda Brown (Link: http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/10/youth-killed-at-petworth-safeway-parking-lot-tuesday-evening/
writes the shooting occurred around 8.30pm.
“4d units on the scene of a shooting in front of the safeway at Georgia and Randolph. Male victim transported to local hospital in critical condition. Lookout for 3-5 black males last seen running behind the safeway”
The Prince of Petworth blog also cites a reader, who lives on the 800 block of Quincy St NW. He cites the reader saying that he heard two gunshots shortly after 8pm, which the police taping off the block about 15 minutes later and a helicopter circling overhead.
One of my housemates confirms having heard a helicopter around that time in the area.
The Prince of Petworth blog cites another reader who says the person shot was returning from the Theodore Roosevelt Football game.
The Prince of Petworth author closes his post saying: "These incidents are so painfully sad. They really illustrate the two worlds that exist within many DC neighborhoods."
By the way, no news of the shooting on the website of NBC Wsahington DC as of now.
Post a Comment