A Washington, DC, 13-year-old juvenile was shot and killed during an attempted carjacking of a federal officer in Northwest on Saturday, according to police.
The tragic incident is representative of the soaring crime in the District:
- A total of 760 carjackings occurred in the first ten months of 2023, police data show.
- Sixty-five percent of those arrested for carjacking are juveniles.
- U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who is responsible for prosecuting those D.C. police arrests, prosecuted only 56 percent of those police arrested in 2023.
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Police said Vernard Toney Jr. tried to carjack an off-duty federal security officer around 10 p.m. Saturday but was killed during the incident. The episode took place on the 600 block of D Street NW, near 7th Street, in the Penn Quarter area, NBC4 Washington reported:
According to the initial investigation, the off-duty officer was sitting in a white Toyota Highlander when two juveniles demanded that he get out. One of the juveniles was “holding his hand in his front waistband pocket, as if he had a handgun,” a statement by police said.
“As the victim was getting out of the car, he produced a handgun and shot one of the suspects,” the statement said.
Toney was shot, and the other young person ran.
The attacker was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries. police said Sunday. Authorities are still searching for the second suspect.
Police said the federal officer legally owned his gun and is cooperating with the investigation. It is unclear what agency employs the officer.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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