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• 1 Man Killed, 2 Hurt In NW Home Invasion

June 27, 2007 (Washington, DC) – One man was fatally shot and two others were wounded Monday night during a home invasion robbery in a Northwest Washington apartment, D.C. police said.

Police said they are attempting to determine whether the gunmen committed two similar robberies this month, including one Friday in the same apartment building. No one was hurt in the earlier attacks.

Monday's trouble started about 11 p.m. when a pair of gunmen stormed into the Pershing House apartments, in the 3700 block of 16th Street NW, and tried to tie up the three victims. The victims were shot after fighting back, police said.

Samuel E. Garcia-Donis, 31, who lived in the apartment, was shot in the head and killed, police said. A 34-year-old man was shot in the chest, and a 19-year-old was hit in the neck. The wounded men remained hospitalized yesterday in critical condition, police said. Authorities have not released their names because they are witnesses.

A video camera captured images of the gunmen in a hallway of the apartment building, said Cmdr. Hilton Burton of the 4th Police District.

Burton said the recent robberies stand out because that stretch of 16th Street, north of the Mount Pleasant area, has been fairly calm recently, especially in terms of violent crime. "That whole area has been quiet," Burton said.

Two of the victims Monday night were accosted while outside the apartment building, where they were getting ready to visit someone inside, police said. As they stood in front of the building and called the apartment using either a cellphone or an intercom, the gunmen approached, Burton said.

The attackers forced the men inside the five-story brick building and followed them to the apartment. Once inside, the gunmen started to tie up one of the victims, Burton said. That was when the other two fought back.

"They rushed them, and that's when the shooting started," Burton said.

After the shooting, the gunmen left the apartment without taking anything, according to police.

"I think they decided it was best to get out of there," Burton said.

He said two men with similar descriptions -- both in their late teens or early 20s, one with dreadlocks -- were seen committing a robbery in the same building at 5:25 p.m. Friday. The victims also were tied up, Burton said.

Police said they also are investigating a similar robbery early June 20 at an apartment building in the 3600 block of 16th Street.

Police stopped by Pershing House yesterday to search for additional clues and talk with residents. People who live there shook their heads and talked about their fear.

Reina Marlen Rosa, 42, who lives in the building with her three children, said she might move her family.

A native of Honduras, she said she likes the building in part because there are many Hispanics who live there. But Rosa said that just two weeks ago, her son's motorcycle was stolen from in front of the building, even though it was chained and locked.

"How can we not be afraid with what happened here?" she said.

-By Allison Klein, Washington Post Staff Writer