Neighbors react to shooting, car crash at Takoma Park intersection

Kevon Dupree
·2 min read
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TAKOMA PARK, Md. (DC News Now) — Jill Bernstein and her family were driving home Sunday night when they noticed a white car had crashed into a median.

“There was nobody in the car, so we were not sure really what was happening, how long it had been there. There were a couple of other cars stopped in the intersection and a bus, and a couple people were standing around,” Bernstein said.

Bernstein said that as she and her family drove down Maple Avenue, they saw a man lying in the road.

“Actually, we thought he was deceased because he was just not moving at all, and he seemed to be covered up. We weren’t sure if that was his jacket or if somebody covered him,” she said.

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Just before 8 p.m. on Sunday, Takoma Park Police were called to the area of Maple Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway for a crash. The car was empty when officers arrived, but they later found that the driver had walked away and collapsed near the old Washington Adventist Hospital.

The driver had been shot in the leg.

Police said that a passenger in the car also ran away from the crash scene. Investigators had not yet found the passenger.

Takoma Park Police believe that the shooting took place somewhere else.

Jim Barnds lives close by and says a situation like this is unusual for the area.

“We don’t really hear about a whole lot of that here,” Barnds said. “Most of the folks have been in this area a long time. The folks in the apartments, the folks who have houses, it’s all a pretty tight community.”

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Neighbors said despite Sunday’s shooting and car crash, they have very few safety concerns moving forward.

“I do still feel safe,” Bernstein said. “I really do. I mean, there’s been things in the neighborhood, it doesn’t feel like these problems really originate here in the neighborhood.”

“I take the dog out here pretty much around the clock because when my dog has got to go,” Barnds said, “she’s got to go, and I never think twice about it.”

Police said the shooting victim was transported to a local hospital and is in stable condition.

Anyone with more information on this incident is encouraged to contact Takoma Park Police at (301) 270-1100.

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