A teenager arrested in a robbery and shooting in D.C. is part of a group that escaped from a halfway house just hours before the crime, police said.
Just before 11 p.m. Sunday on 8th Street NE, a Land Rover pulled up behind two people talking, police said. Several masked gunmen got out and announced a robbery.
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WATCH HEREGunfire began. Neighbor Brendan Gehrke said he heard a half-dozen shots.
“People are ducking down for cover behind the cars, just trying to avoid the crossfire,” he said.
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SIGN UP One man was hit by the gunfire but will survive his injury. According to a neighbor who spoke with the man, he was treated and released from a hospital.
The gunmen stole the wounded man’s watch before driving away from the scene.
D.C. police said their real-time crime center received information about three juveniles who left a Division of Youth and Rehabilitation Services contracted facility in Pennsylvania, allegedly stole a 2016 Land Rover and drove to D.C.
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With the help of the real-time crime center and a helicopter, police were able to track the car and arrest three of the five suspects in the car, police said.
“It’s really scary,” Gehrke said. “There’s been a lot of crimes here. We’ve written the mayor, we’ve written the councilmen, we’ve invited the councilmen — Councilman (Charles) Allen — over to the house, and we have been asking for a police presence on this corner of 8th and H for years now, at this point.”
One of the three escapees is the teenager who pleaded guilty in the shooting of Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. during a carjacking attempt in August 2022, sources familiar with the investigation said. He was sentenced to remain in juvenile custody until he turns 21.
How the three juveniles escaped the halfway house hasn’t been disclosed. The teen escapee who was caught will be charged as an adult. The other two remain on the loose.
