WASHINGTON — D.C. Firefighter Gary Dziekan was walking home in Northeast Washington when police say a 17-year-old armed with a gun tried to rob him, NBC Washington reports. The encounter left Dziekan wounded and the teen facing criminal charges.
Police said the incident happened Sept. 20 on C Street Northeast. Dziekan told NBC Washington he handed over his phone, but the suspect then pointed a gun at his chest and ordered him to unlock it.
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Dziekan said he pushed the barrel aside as the weapon fired, striking him and injuring the suspect’s hand. The two struggled before the suspect fled, returned and then ran off again after Dziekan picked up the weapon and fired a round.
“If I had stood there, he was going to shoot me square in the chest, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Dziekan told NBC Washington.
Dziekan said he and the teen struggled over the gun. When it fired, the bullet struck him between his shoulder and chest and the gunman’s fingers. The teen ran, then returned. Seeing the weapon on the ground, Dziekan picked it up, chambered a round and fired, believing the attacker was coming back to kill him. The gunman fled again.
Dziekan tried calling 911 for three minutes without getting through. A neighbor came outside, and Dziekan had him call the nearby firehouse.
“I gave him the phone number of the firehouse,” Dziekan said. “They answer, I just said, ’It’s Zeek. I’m at 8th and C Northeast. I’ve been shot, and I need help.’”
Crews from Dziekan’s firehouse, Engine 18, arrived within minutes and took him to the hospital.
D.C. police arrested the 17-year-old suspect nearby and charged him with assault with intent to rob.
The bullet remains lodged between Dziekan’s shoulder and chest, and doctors say removing it is too risky. They told him that if it had traveled a centimeter differently, it could have been fatal.
