“Hug Your Kids” Says Mom of Man Gunned Down by D.C. Police

The mother of a 33-year-old man D.C. police shot and killed on Christmas Eve says she thought her son was missing for days before she was notified he was dead.

Police said they were in pursuit of a robbery suspect off Naylor Road in southeast when the man fired shots at the officers. They fired back, killing the suspect

He was first identified as Raymond Robinson, 29, but Metropolitan Police backtracked on that identity after the alive and well Robinson called his mother to wish her a merry Christmas. 

"He says, 'Merry Christmas, Mom,' and I said, 'Who is this?'" Raymond's mother Karen Robinson said. "He said, 'Mom, this is Raymond.' I said, 'Boy, they said you died.'"

Police admitted proper identification procedures were not followed.

This week, they used fingerprints to identify the deceased suspect as Gregory Marcus Gray. His mother, a Maryland resident, visited the site of the shooting Wednesday afternoon ahead of his funeral and said she had thought her son was missing before finding out he was dead.

"I love my son," Barbara Thomas said. "He has a home, he has two kids. It's hard when you have to bury a child. I didn't think it was going to be this hard. [Mothers], grab your kids and hug them and love them."

Gray was pursued after allegedly robbing someone outside a bank, police said.

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