Improper care may be cause of zoo deaths
Veterinarians at the National Zoo have been accused of covering up the deaths of 23 animals over the past six years, The Washington Post reported.

Many of the veterinarians’ records are incomplete or were changed after deaths of a lion, orangutan, giraffe and dozens of other animals.

Zoo pathologist Donald K. Nicholas criticized the animal care in the National Zoo, saying that workers were trying to “cover up” mistakes, The Post reported

Director Lucy H. Spelman told The Post that the zoo tried to provide accurate information and that the records represent “our best understanding of what is happening, has happened. It’s complicated.”

She continued, “Everybody here is here to try to make sure the animals are OK.”

D.C. teen killed after witnessing shooting
A 14-year-old girl was shot and killed Friday night in Northwest D.C.

Metropolitan Police said that the girl was killed because she was witness to a previous shooting.

The girl, Jahkema Princess Hansen, was shot in the head, torso and leg, The Washington Post reported.

Hansen’s 12-year-old friend, who was watching television with her in a townhouse off North Capital Street N.W. at the time of the shooting, was wounded in the leg, officials told The Post.

Jahkema’s mother, Judyann Hansen, told The Post she is angry with the city for not protecting her daughter after she was questioned about the other shootings.

Jahkema declined to give the police information regarding the killings, which took place earlier in the week on 3rd and K streets.

“Even if my daughter didn’t want to say anything, they were supposed to put out protection just in case,” Judyann Hansen told The Post.

MPD Police Chief Charles Ramsey told The Post that the police could not provide special protection for Jahkema.

He said, “You can’t just take a person and force them into anything.”

-Bryn Lansdowne