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Surveillance video captured a bold woman in Washington, D.C. telling an armed gunman to "shoot me" before fending him off during an attempted robbery.
"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," Iris Bond Gill told FOX 5 DC while discussing the incident.
Bond Gill said she was approached by the armed man after parking her vehicle on 10th Street NE just after 3:20 p.m. last Tuesday (August 23), where a D.C. Police camera happened to be in the vicinity.
The video shows Bond Gill rummaging through her purse before being approached from behind by the armed man.
Bond Gill is initially heard screaming, "What the f***," in fear once she realizes the man is holding a gun and told FOX 5 DC that the suspect called her an expletive and said, "I'll shoot you," and "give me your keys."
"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," Bond Gill said, noting that she’s worked in education for many years.
The surveillance video was shared on the community website "Popville" and throughout Northeast D.C. area before someone who had seen the video sent it to Bond Gill's husband.
Bond Gill said she hopes the incident provides a positive change in the community, acknowledging that no one stopped to help or intervene when the armed man approached her.
"I think there’s power in community in many ways and I think one, you know, we can advocate for more lights and more cameras and certainly community policing is a part of that and boots on the ground," she added. "But it was actually a camera in someone’s house. And it was a car that drove by, that was not driven by anyone official – but just an individual that sort of scared him off.
"Gone are the days of having older neighbors that sat on the porch all day and watched and waved to you on when you got home from work. I think in some ways, trying to think about how to preserve this intergenerational neighborhood is so valuable. We’ve lost so much of that in the city with massive displacement. So, I think just having more people around that know each other and that support each other would be really helpful.