Wave of violence in nation's capital: Three dozen shot in the span of a week

The nation's capital is suffering a surge of gun violence, with authorities reporting at least three dozen people shot and half a dozen deaths from shooting incidents. 

At least one of the incidents involved "assault-style" rifles in which shooters sprayed dozens of bullets at victims, killing two of them. In another incident, on Monday, six people were struck by bullets, including one person who was fatally shot, in a mass shooting in the city's Northeast quadrant. 

"Every aspect of government should feel a sense of urgency around this," D.C. Council member Charles Allen, a Democrat, told the Washington Post on Thursday. 

D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III told reporters the assailants "have just lost their sense of humanity."

Official police data in D.C. shows homicides up 12% year-over-year, with robbery seeing a whopping 20% jump, though multiple other types of crime saw year-over-year declines.