WASHINGTON, DC – A longtime teacher out of D.C. managed to scare off a would-be carjacker this week, employing a method that police are encouraging people to not emulate despite it having worked in the heat of the moment.
On August 23rd at approximately 3:20 p.m., Iris Bond Gill appeared to be standing idly on a street corner and looking through her purse while along 10th Street NE, roughly a few blocks away from the H-Street corridor, when she was confronted by a male suspect toting a gun and demanding her car keys.
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In surveillance footage captured during the incident, Gill can be seen being startled by the armed assailant who approached her from behind. Gill initially dropped her belongings and started to back away from the suspect, who was reportedly demanding her car keys.
Looking back on the incident, Gill recalls the suspect telling her, “I’ll shoot you,” and, “Give me your keys.” However, as clearly heard on the audio from the footage, after belting out an understandable utterance of, “What the fuck,” Gill then challenged the suspect to shoot her if he wanted her belongings.
“No! Shoot me, shoot me. Shoot me.”
Gill’s posture suddenly changed after challenging the miscreant to do the deed, even nonchalantly clapping her hands in a manner to signal as though she was growing impatient with the suspect’s inaction.
The suspect in those moments appeared to be confused, walking backwards while Gill continued to mock and accost him. Moments later, the suspect approached Gill once again – pointing at her belongings on the ground and appearing to plead for her to simply relinquish them.
Again, Gill didn’t comply, leading to the suspect menacingly pointing the firearm one more time at her and deciding to run off without her possessions. As the suspect was running away, Gill could be heard saying on the video, “Come and take it! Take it! You want it,” before she gathered her items and walked off.
At the time of the incident, Gill was unaware that a home surveillance camera just happened to be nearby and caught the entire confrontation. In retrospect, Gill stated, “You know, it’s really complicated to think about now. I don’t exactly remember, but I know – I knew I was in danger. And so I just threw off my bag and just prepared to be confrontational.”
Gill credited her reaction in those moments to her years of teaching, stating that when she was confronted by the suspect, she almost saw him as one of the “young people” she’s worked with over the years and instinctively went into “chastising mode.”
“I’ve seen the video and to be honest, I saw a young man in front of me. And I saw in him, I think what I’ve seen a lot of young people I’ve worked with over the years. And in some way, I think I went into almost a chastising mode with him as well.”
The veteran teacher is also not oblivious to the fact that as cars passed by, not a single person came to her aid – an aspect she finds to be disheartening.
“We need stronger communities. You see the suspect back away when a car comes, but no one stopped to help or was really able to intervene.”
D.C. Police have yet to make an arrest in the case, but law enforcement officials have stressed that emulating the actions of the victim in this case is not the wisest of decisions.
This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on August 30, 2022. It originally appeared on RedVoiceMedia.com and is used with permission.
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