Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D., D.C.) claimed Washington D.C. is the safest city in the U.S. Monday in a Navy Yard shooting press conference:
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: [...] I want to say to residents who are coming home today that the response of the police, the taking down of the shooter so quickly, convinces me yet again that this is the safest city in the United States. Not safe from attack, but safe. [...] When I say this is the safest city in the United States I want also to reinforce the safety that the security of the Naval Sea Systems Command has always generated, and we know that because of the difficulty of getting there but also because it was open to the community in the evenings, even built a facility so we could accommodate community events. We want to maintain that balance, and tonight we want to say to residents we don't think there's anything to fear in this city, and I think you saw by the way in which you saw multiple police forces work so closely together achieved a closure here, that this is a safe city and we should go about our business in the usual way. Thank you very much.
Today's tragic events aside, Washington D.C. has seen at least 10 shootings in the past week.
According to 2010 FBI statistics, the district's violent crime rate outstrips than the national average with 403.6 offenses per 100,000 people.