Take a look at the history of violence that has erupted during the National Zoo's Easter Monday event during the past, as zoo and city officials look to ramp up safety efforts for this year's event.
On April 21, 2014 a group of about 30 to 50 people was walking along Connecticut Avenue NW when shots rang out. An 18-year-old man was shot in the hand right outside the zoo, while another man with gunshot wounds to the arm was found about four blocks away. Police said the shooting stemmed from a neighborhood dispute between a group from D.C. and another from Prince George's County. A 14-year-old boy was arrested on charges of attempted murder.
Three years prior, a 16-year-old Mshairi "Swipa" Alkebular pleaded guilty to stabbing a 14-year-old at the zoo. The 14-year-old told police Alkebular and his group of friends threw a chair at him, then repeatedly punched him and stabbed him twice. The victim was stabbed four more times by the same group a short time later.
In 2000, a 16-year-old shot seven people near the zoo entrance and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
