D.C. police are looking for a man they say tried to shoot his former girlfriend Sunday by putting a gun to her head and pulling the trigger twice, but the gun failed to fire.
The attempted shooting occurred at the Benning Park Apartments in Southeast early Sunday evening, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
The man, identified by a police spokeswoman as Ricardo Baptiste, was arguing with his ex-girlfriend about the reason why they were no longer a couple when he became angry and began threatening her. According to a police report, he first began punching holes in the wall of the apartment and, when the 20-year-old woman tried to leave, he told her, “If you leave I will kill you.”
The police report says he poured a bottle of bleach on the woman’s belongings and threatened her again, telling her he would kill her best friend and kidnap her child if she left. The woman was able to escape from the apartment, which was located in the 4800 block of Benning Road in Southeast. She made it outside, but police said Mr. Baptiste followed her with a gun in hand. He pointed the gun at her head and pulled the trigger twice, the police report said. When it didn’t fire, he struck the woman several times in the face with the gun and fled. She suffered swelling and minor injuries but declined to be taken to a hospital.
As he fled the area, Mr. Baptiste grabbed a brick and threw it at a nearby car, breaking the window of a Buick Le Sabre and denting its side door.
Police responded to the incident around 5:45 p.m. Sunday but were unable to locate Mr. Baptiste, said Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Officer Tisha Gant.
Police described Mr. Baptiste as a black man with a tattoo of a star on his face.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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