An adult man was hospitalized Thursday night after being stabbed on the 600 block of Florida Avenue NW, and police are now searching for two suspects who fled the scene. Officers responded to the block around 10:10 p.m. and found the victim suffering from a stab wound. He is expected to recover.
According to WJLA, police described the first suspect as a man with dreadlocks wearing a white long-sleeve shirt with a design, light-colored jeans, dark shoes, and a fanny pack. The second suspect was described as a woman wearing a dark sweatshirt with writing on the back. An AlertDC dispatch, logged as CAD event #I20260362886 at 10:33 p.m. Thursday, relayed the same description to residents watching for the pair, per AlertDC.
The Metropolitan Police Department is asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411, both of which operate around the clock and allow residents to submit photo or video evidence directly to detectives. The department also maintains a standing reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in violent crimes across the District, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. No motive for the stabbing has been publicly identified.
A Block With a Violent History
This is not the first violent knife incident on this stretch of Florida Avenue NW. In June 2025, an alleged shoplifting suspect stabbed an MPD officer in the forehead on the same block, an attack that led to a March 2026 grand jury indictment on nine felony counts against defendant Ian Zephyrin, who was charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Hoodline previously covered that officer stabbing in detail.
The 600 block sits along the northern boundary of Shaw, near Howard University and the Howard Theatre, roughly two blocks east of the Shaw-Howard University Metro station served by the Green and Yellow lines, per local real estate coverage. It is a heavily trafficked corridor connecting Shaw, LeDroit Park, and the university, meaning foot traffic in the area is typically high even late at night.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Shaw
Thursday's stabbing also comes just one day after a fatal shooting in the Shaw neighborhood left one person dead and another wounded, with no suspect named as of that report. That shooting was detailed in a separate Hoodline report on the fatal Shaw shooting, underscoring a cluster of violent incidents in the neighborhood within a 48-hour span.
The stabbing also fits into a citywide pattern: MPD data from early August shows reported assaults with a dangerous weapon have surged 42 percent year-to-date, from 530 to 752 incidents, even as citywide homicides dropped 35 percent over the same period. MPD has responded to a string of violent incidents around Shaw this summer, including an armed robbery on 7th Street and a gunpoint confrontation in a nearby park, relying in part on a Real Time Crime Center and targeted deployments under its Robbery Suppression Initiative to monitor high-activity corridors in Northwest D.C.
Under D.C. Code § 22-402, assault with a dangerous weapon is a felony carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine, should the suspects be identified, arrested, and convicted. Both remain at large as detectives continue the investigation.
