Charges for 17-year-old accused of shooting DC firefighter upgraded
Charges for teen accused of shooting firefighter upgraded
The 17 year old accused of shooting a firefighter on capitol hill was in court, now facing upgraded charges from the U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro.
WASHINGTON - The 17-year-old accused of shooting a firefighter on Capitol Hill was in court, now facing upgraded charges from the U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro.
The teen accused of shooting Zeek Dziekan during a robbery on Capitol Hill Saturday night is now charged with armed robbery, possession of a gun during a crime of violence and aggravated assault while armed.
What we know:
D.C.’s U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the upgraded charges under the District's Title 16 that allows her office to charge juveniles between the ages of 15 and 18 as adults for certain violent crimes including robbery while armed.
Pirro emphasized the facts in this case to justify the charges. She said that the 17-year-old demanded Dziekan's phone. Dziekan handed it over.
Then the teenager put the gun to his chest and ordered him to unlock the phone.
Pirro said because the phone was handed over along with everything else in his hands, the robbery was completed, which gives her office the ability to invoke title 16.
The 17-year-old was previously charged with attempted robbery.
Dig deeper:
The defendant was presented in court. Pirro's office says he faces a mandatory minimum of five years behind bars if convicted. But under the Youth Rehabilitation Act, that Congress is currently considering getting rid of, a judge has discretion to ignore the mandatory minimum for people convicted of a crime who are under 25.
"That's why we have to change the law…I don't think a judge should be able to say I'm going to ignore the mandatory minimum."
Dziekan also complained about the long wait time when he called D.C. 911. We asked Pirro whether her office would consider requesting federal resources from the surge to help the Office of Unified Command.
OUC said in a statement to FOX 5 that they "received more than 20 calls within 10 minutes regarding a shooting. The initial call for this shooting was received at 10:11:17 p.m., the call was processed and OUC dispatched DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department units at 10:12:22 p.m. and Metropolitan Police Department units at 10:13:25 p.m."