A woman sought hospital care Saturday evening after being stabbed near the intersection of South Capitol and I streets in Southeast Washington, and D.C. police are now searching for two female suspects who fled the scene. The victim got herself to a hospital rather than waiting for responders, according to D.C. police.
D.C. police learned about the stabbing around 6:36 p.m. on September 5, according to WJLA. Investigators determined the attack happened near the busy South Capitol and I streets corner, a stretch of Navy Yard lined with dense apartment buildings just blocks from Nationals Park. The report did not provide further details about any emergency alert, including a time, event number, suspect race or police-service-area range.
Police Search for Suspects
The available report does not identify the intersection's police service area or describe the boundaries of the relevant police district.
The stabbing site sits beside some of the neighborhood's newest high-rises, including Novel South Capitol, a 580-unit apartment building at 2 I Street SE completed in 2019, per JDLand. The surrounding census tract has exploded from 1,825 residents in 2000 to more than 18,900 by 2020, according to the Hill Rag, as former industrial land near Nationals Park has given way to dense residential blocks packed with new arrivals.
Tip Line Open as Investigation Continues
Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or send tips by text to 50411. MPD's standing reward program offers up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in violent crimes across the District, an incentive the department regularly promotes alongside its tip lines.
If suspects are eventually identified and charged, an attack carried out with a knife would likely fall under D.C. Code § 22-402, which classifies assault with a dangerous weapon as a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, per Koehler Law. Under that statute, an object counts as a dangerous weapon if it is capable of inflicting serious bodily harm, regardless of whether contact actually occurred.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Knife Violence
The article also references other stabbings in the broader area. Further south on the same thoroughfare, D.C. police arrested a 64-year-old resident on a second-degree murder charge after a fatal stabbing on the 3800 block of South Capitol Street SE in September 2024, as Hoodline reported at the time — though that case involved an attack inside a residence and led to a swift arrest, unlike Saturday's still-unsolved incident.
The stabbing also arrives amid a broader citywide decline in violent crime. Annual data reviewed by FactCheck.org showed violent crime in D.C. fell 35% in 2024 compared to 2023, with assaults with a dangerous weapon down 27% during the District's lowest violent crime total in three decades. No further 2025 comparison is provided here, even as individual knife attacks like Saturday's still rattle specific neighborhoods.
Whether an arrest had been announced by Sunday was not stated in the report, and the report did not identify the suspects or discuss a motive. It also was not immediately clear whether surveillance cameras from nearby apartment towers or traffic cameras captured the confrontation or the suspects' escape route. D.C. police have not released additional details about the victim's condition beyond confirming she transported herself to the hospital.
