DC police warn of rise in violence in Congress Park area after officer hit by BB gun pellets

WASHINGTON - Residents in Washington D.C. are fed up after another night of violence in the city. Although homicide numbers are 25 fewer than what they were last year, the shootings are continuing at the same rate as they were during last year's crime spike.

There was another shooting in Southeast D.C. Monday afternoon after a 25-year-old man was wounded in the chest. In that same neighborhood Saturday evening, a D.C. police officer was hit in the leg and in the head with pellets from a BB gun outside of an apartment complex at 13th and Congress Streets.

Following this incident, D.C. police put out an internal memo saying there has been "recent rise in violence in the Congress Park area" and reminded officers in the Seventh District to be alert and on the lookout because of this crime increase.

On Good Day DC on Monday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was asked about her priority to select a D.C. Public Schools chancellor before choosing a police chief.

"We were recruiting for both very actively, so let me be clear about that," Bowser said. "I will likely make the decision about the chancellor first, but we are actively seeking interest in the [police] chief's position. We have great leaders, interim leadership in both cases and it is just a matter which position I'll come to first."

"Each day we are continually seeing gun violence, people being shot and people being killed, and I would hope that the mayor will say I think we need to get a police chief immediately to handle and to combat the problems we are experiencing over here in Southeast," said Paul Trantham, an ANC commissioner in Ward 8.

Sources have confirmed to FOX 5 that there are more than 100 applicants for the police chief position.