He should've been celebrating his graduation, instead he was calling the police
WASHINGTON (WJLA) — A new Georgetown graduate should’ve been celebrating his hard work this past weekend, but instead--spent time on the phone with police, when his family and friends were robbed at gunpoint right in front of him in Northeast DC.
The victim did not want to be identified and spoke to 7News anonymously.
He says the incident happened Sunday afternoon around 1 o'clock near Union Market--in the middle of a busy neighborhood.
The graduate, who had just finished a doctoral program, said his fiancé and a group of about 10 family and friends were walking up Fifth Street from M Street. The graduate said two young men ran up to his friends at the back of the group.
"I just see their hands up, I see them [the suspects] searching their pockets, pulling out their phones, throwing it down, smashing them, tossed in the grass and stuff," the graduate said. "And then my one friend had to give up his gold watch."
The graduate said the suspects also tried to take one of his friend's gold chain necklaces--but the necklace wasn't coming off.
No one was hurt.
Police released two images, one showing a suspect in a hoodie with the words “Good Intentions.”
The victim tells 7News police were able to collect Ring Camera video from a neighbor, however, MPD is still asking for the public's help to find the two suspects.
The graduate said the whole interaction played out in about 20 seconds.
"All I could do was just run to the middle of the street and yell 'police' as loud as I can," the graduate said.
After the robbery, the graduate said the suspects ran but stayed in his line of sight about four blocks away.
He called police, but said the suspects got away.
"I feel terrible for all my friends and my fiancé who was there," the victim said. "She's already pretty much traumatized with the unfortunate crime that’s happening in the area, always looking around the corner, she doesn’t want to do anything without me."
Another neighbor who's lived in the area 22 years, said she's noticed more crime the past six months--with more gunshots which she's, "never heard before."
She even said she's had large packages stolen from right outside her door--including a fridge she had sent to her home.
"A big fridge that I ordered, left it outside—it was gone," she said.
According to Metropolitan Police Department Ward 6 statistics, in Ward 6, there have been 68 robberies with a gun year-to-date, up 26 incidents from this same time in 2022.
According to the same data, District-wide, robberies are also up 23% year-to-date. MPD statistics show there were 874 robberies this time last year. So far in 2023, there have been 1,075 robberies.
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen provided this statement to 7News:
“Residents and visitors deserve to feel safe in the District at any time of the day. What happened to this family, in the midst of celebrating a graduation, is not okay and we cannot accept it. When we have children and young people holding the guns, we need to take a serious look at our preventive measures and how we’re reaching at-risk kids. But none of that comes at the expense of holding people accountable, and I urge residents to review the clear photograph of the two suspects provided by MPD to help identify them in a timely manner.”
Sunday’s graduate has already accepted a job out West.
He hopes for more youth services in DC and wishes he could leave on a better note.
"We loved the area, we enjoyed H Street Festival, it’s really unfortunate that it’s going to leave a really bad taste in our mouth," he said.
