Two Maryland residents were attacked during a robbery on Sunday evening, in what may possibly be deemed a hate crime, Metro Weekly reported Thursday.
Police are still searching for four subjects who stole a set of car keys and $15 before fleeing the crime scene in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Tony Randolph Hunter, 37 is reported to be on life support after suffering a laceration to the back of the head. Trevor Carter, 27, was released from a local hospital after being treated for a bruised jaw.
Lamont Joy, a friend of Hunter's, told Metro Weekly that the two men were on at D.C. gay club Be Bar to meet with friends, but they never showed up. Eric Rhodes, a friend of Hunter and Carter, told the Washington Blade that the suspects approached his friends as they exited a car.
"He said four guys came up and said, 'What's up, what's up,'" Rhodes said in the Blade. "Then the guys started swinging."
Carter told Rhodes that he ran to seek help, assuming Hunter was behind him.
The police department's gay and lesbian liaison unit said that the incident is classified as a hate crime because it was based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, and because it took place close to Be Bar. The police department will next determine whether the case will officially be classified as a hate crime. (The Advocate)
