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By
Catherine Brennan
- June 20, 2025
Daily Stories
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stabbing
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Suspects
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After a report deemed a stabbing defendant incompetent, DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe decided to move him to a mental hospital in hopes his competency can be restored during a hearing on June 17.
On Nov. 29, 2022, Allen Shorter, 58, was convicted and sentenced to 36 months, with 18 suspended, of imprisonment for assault with significant bodily injury and carrying a dangerous weapon for his involvement in a non-fatal stabbing on Oct. 6, 2019, on a Metro bus between Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Blue Plains Drive, SW.
According to a police account of the incident, Shorter, also known as “snake eyes,” stabbed the victim four or five times on the face, shoulders and chest. A witness said that shorter appeared highly intoxicated when he got on the bus and started arguing with another passenger. As the dispute continued, a witness threw a juice can at Shorter. Before Shorter got off the bus he attacked the victim and also threatened to stab a witness.
As part of his sentence and probation Shorter was required to get mental health and substance abuse treatment. Shorter’s case came back on the docket this year for a post-disposition hearing. The case has been ongoing for some six years largely because of Shorter’s fragile mental condition.
In August 2024, the Court Services and Offender Supervising Agency (CSOSA) submitted a memo to the court requesting that Shorter be referred to a behavioral treatment program under an exception given the nature of his crime.
The request was based on a psychiatric assessment that found Shorter, “Bipolar, current episode manic severe with psychotic features…Schizophrenia…Post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic and Mild cognitive impairment of uncertain or unknown etiology. “
And signficantly, “Mr. Shorter appears to have short-term memory and does not know how come he’s on probation.” The memo said that Shorter has been compliant overall and would benefit from the behavioral intervention. To demonstrate mental competency Shorter must be able to understand his legal situation and assist his attorneys arguing the case.
However, Shorter has drifted in and out of competency during several mental evaluations by the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), thus his current status as incompetent. As a result, Judge Iscoe signed on order committing Shorter to inpatient treatment at St. Elizabeths Hospital.
“The Court finds that the defendant’s placement in an inpatient treatment facility is necessary in order to provide appropriate treatment OR that the defendant is unlikely to comply with an order for outpatient treatment,” according to the order.
The belief is that Shorter is likely to be restored to mental competence to complete his probation.
Parties are slated to reconvene on July 15.