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By
Laura Berol
- March 4, 2025
Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Suspects
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DC Superior Court Judge Robert Hildum denied Nathaniel Washington‘s request on March 3 to be released from DC Jail with GPS monitoring after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Washington, 20, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting on Feb. 7 on the 500 block of Division Avenue, NE. No injuries were reported from the incident.
Alvin Thomas, Jr., Washington’s attorney, asked Judge Hildum to release Washington due to his youth and the support offered by his mother, who was present at the hearing. Thomas told the court Washington has only one prior conviction.
Opposing Washington’s release, the prosecutor played surveillance camera footage of two suspects shooting at a vehicle that briefly stopped on the street. Court documents state that police found a bullet hole in the rear bumper of the vehicle and a mark from a bullet on the roof. According to arrest documents, the victim couldn’t identify any reason for the attack.
“This was an assault by two individuals on a stranger who happened to be passing through the neighborhood,” the prosecutor said. He told the court 15 shell casings were found on the street, and they were of two different types, indicating both suspects fired their guns.
The prosecutor said he had strong evidence identifying Washington as one of the shooters. He displayed surveillance video footage of an individual identified as Washington at a BP gas station shortly before the incident. According to the prosecutor, continuous video footage connected that individual to the shooting, and Washington’s parole officer identified him from the footage.
The prosecutor told the court that police found three firearms under the sofa where Washington sleeps when they executed a search warrant in Maryland. Two of the firearms have been preliminarily linked to shell casings from the shooting.
“The nature of the charges is very serious: discharging firearms, shooting multiple times at a vehicle–it’s fairly miraculous no one was killed,” said Judge Hildum as he denied Washington’s request for release.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on March 18.