A 12-year-old boy in Washington, D.C., was arrested and accused of carjacking a woman at gunpoint in Southeast. The victim spoke with reporters after D.C. police arrested the suspect.
The woman, who remains anonymous, told WTTG that she parked her car, released her seatbelt, and got out to go to a restaurant around the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and U Street on Sunday. That is when a 12-year-old boy appeared and attempted to carjack her with a gun.
The victim said the incident occurred in the middle of the day. It reportedly took place at 1:06 p.m., according to a statement released by the Metropolitan Police.
She said the young boy demanded that she hand over the key to the vehicle. She said there was something in his waistband that looked like a gun. When she refused to hand over the keys, the boy got startled and ran away.
When the police found the boy shortly after the incident, they arrested him. Detectives confirmed that the boy did have a gun on him when he was arrested.
The woman said she wants to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “I was just shaken up by it,” she said. “I didn’t really know how to feel. I was frozen.”
“[Youth violence] is horrible. It’s gotten so bad and the age limit is just going younger and younger.”
The 12-year-old was charged with armed carjacking and carrying a pistol without a license. The police have not released the identity of the boy since he is a minor.
WRC-TV reported in April that a 12-year-old had been responsible for a slew of attempted carjackings in Southeast D.C. However, it is not confirmed whether this is the same boy as the most recent incident.
While D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced the Juvenile Curfew Enforcement Pilot, it will not mitigate crimes committed by juveniles in broad daylight. The curfew in D.C. goes from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the week and then from midnight to 6 a.m. on the weekends.
A former Afghan interpreter who helped the U.S. Special Forces was fatally shot in D.C. in early July. While Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, was driving for Lyft, he was reportedly shot. The four individuals captured on the surveillance video appeared to be teens. They can be seen running down an alley after the incident.
“You just killed him,” one person said.
“He was reaching, bro,” another responded.
When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they discovered Yar on the ground next to his vehicle with a single gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital and was later pronounced dead.
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