WASHINGTON — The recent shooting and attempted carjacking of Washington Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson has put a spotlight on a troubling trend: Across the District, carjackings are on the rise.
According to D.C. police, Robinson was "shot multiple times" Sunday, and has non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the incident happened on the 1000 block of H Street Northeast around 5:30 p.m.
According to DC Police's Carjacking Dashboard, there have been 326 carjacking offenses so far this year. That's a jump of 27%, compared to this time last year, when there were 257 carjackings by this date.
The number of carjackings breaks down as follows in the seven police districts:
- 1D: 62 carjackings (63% increase from last year)
- 2D: 11 carjackings (8% decrease from last year)
- 3D: 54 carjackings (145% increase from last year
- 4D: 23 carjackings (8% decrease from last year)
- 5D: 58 carjackings (41% increase from last year)
- 6D: 70 carjackings (5% decrease from last year)
- 7D: 48 carjackings (9% increase from last year)
According to the data, 7D has the highest number of carjacking incidents, with 70 since the start of the year. This is however slightly down from last year. The largest increases have been seen in districts 1D (63%), 3D (145%), and 5D (41%).
The data show that these carjacking incidents are often done with a gun. According to the database, a firearm was present for 238 carjacking offenses, which is 73% of total carjackings this year.
According to D.C. Police, there have been 91 carjacking arrests this year, of which two-thirds have been juveniles. The numbers break down as follows:
- 13 years old: 6 arrests
- 14 years old: 12 arrests
- 15 years old: 16 arrests
- 16 years old: 16 arrests
- 17 years old: 10 arrests
- 18 years old: 7 arrests
- 19 years old: 5 arrests
- 20+ years old: 19 arrests
In a statement on the dashboard website, D.C. Police offered the following advice for victims of carjacking:
"Your car is replaceable, but you're not," it reads. "Carjacking is a crime of violence that can be particularly scary. Knowing how to respond in a situation may mean the difference between serious injury or death and walking away unscathed."
To look over the updated carjacking data visit here.
Prince George's County Has Seen Spike As Well:
According to a Prince George's County Police spokesperson, there have been 344 carjackings in the county so far this year. That is a significant increase from this time last year when there were 226 carjackings.
The spokesperson also shared that the county has made 140 arrests so far this year, for carjacking offenses. In all of 2021, the county arrested 165 people for the offense.
Many of those arrested in Prince George's County are minors as well. The PGCP spokesperson said that there have been 87 juvenile arrests in 2022, compared to 92 in all of 2021.
Overall arrests are up in Prince George's County, as 3,049 have been arrested so far, compared to 3,015 at this time last year.
The PGCP spokesperson reported that there have been 1,169 gun recoveries so far this year, compared to 1,007 at this time last year.