Attempted stick-ups turning into fatal shootings. Robbers ambushing victims on sidewalks. Small-time crooks making their first foray into felony crime with violent thefts.

No corner of the District has been spared from a surge of robberies taking place on busy commercial corridors and neighborhood blocks in recent weeks.

The number of holdups reported by the Metropolitan Police Department has exploded this year by nearly 60% as thieves brazenly confront citizens outside bars, public libraries and the victims’ own apartments.

The wave of robberies are contributing to the sense of randomness that has accompanied the District’s stunning surge in violent crime in the first six months of 2023.

Even those troubled by the political rhetoric that comes with discussions about public safety in the District don’t deny the issue is serious.

“I hate this narrative of ‘Oh, D.C. is so crime-ridden,’” cyclist Sabrina Valenti told The Washington Times. “But at the same time, you do have these absolute nonsense, out-of-nowhere, irresponsible people, it almost makes me wonder if they realize that they have the potential to take someone’s life away.”      

Ms. Valenti took part in a memorial bike ride Sunday to honor Dzhoy Zuckerman, the 27-year-old bike messenger who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery just after midnight Saturday on 3rd Street Northwest.

Zuckerman, who regularly logged 70 miles on their beloved purple bike while making deliveries, left behind a five-year-old child.

The cyclist’s slaying came days after construction worker Rafael Adolfo Gomez was shot and killed while walking to his job site at Howard University.

Third District Commander James Boteler described the July 13 shooting as an attempted robbery that “went bad.”

“I’m feeling sad, and I feel like a part of me is lost since my brother has died,” Mr. Adolfo Gomez’s brother, who was not identified, told local Fox affiliate WTTG. “I will miss his characteristics and him being himself.”

The suspects in both shootings remain at large. But police were able to arrest Jaime Macedo, the 22-year-old ex-con who is accused of gunning down Kentucky teacher Maxwell Emerson on Catholic University’s campus earlier this month.

As was the case with Zuckerman and Adolfo Gomez, court documents show that Macedo was trying to rob Emerson before the victim was mortally wounded.

“This young man from my home state was one of 10 people who were shot and killed in Washington during the first five days of this month, including a college student and an Afghan immigrant who had risked his life as an interpreter for the U.S. military,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said on the Senate floor last week.

Robberies that don’t involve a loss of life are equally as jarring given how suddenly the criminals pounce.

Police said that four different victims were robbed within a six-minute period Saturday in the Adams Morgan and Kalorama neighborhoods.

Each time, police said the suspects quickly pulled up in a vehicle, flashed a handgun and took the victims’ property before speeding off.

Authorities are on the lookout for a black Hyundai Sonata with Connecticut tags and the license plate number BE04065.

Saturday’s rapid robbery spree was similar to one that police thwarted a day earlier in Northwest.

Three 18-year-old suspects — Rasheme Holmes, of Southeast, Trinity Nash, of Southeast, and Javon Avents, of Northeast — were taken into custody on July 14 after police said they robbed six people in less than 24 hours across the District.

The suspects were accused of abruptly stopping their car — and sometimes with hasty u-turns — to confront victims and make off with their belongings.

One of the victims was a White House staffer who was threatened with being stabbed if she didn’t hand over her purse near the Mount Pleasant Library, according to court documents. Another 
victim who was robbed on Fuller Street NW told police that a suspect threatened to “kill this n—” because his iPhone password was too long.

Robberies may also be a way for people looking to dabble in more serious crime.

MPD arrested 19-year-old Isaiah Matthews on Tuesday after police said he stole a victim’s car keys at gunpoint in D Street SE.

But Matthews has a criminal record that includes prior misdemeanor assault and threats offenses where he wasn’t kept behind bars for long.

His threats offense earned him a 120-day sentence in January that was suspended as long as he could fulfill his one-year probation, according to court records. Matthews became delinquent soon after, and he wasn’t ordered to serve out the remaining 90 days of his sentence until he was arrested in April.

Matthews was released from jail earlier this month before being rearrested Tuesday on robbery charges.