MPD says recent attacks in the neighborhood not the "knockout game"

A few weeks ago, there was a spate of attacks in the neighborhood where a group of males would punch an unsuspecting person and run away -- in fact, it happened three times in Columbia Heights, on 14th and on 11th. A lot of folks were concerned about the "knockout game," a supposedly nationwide trend where attackers would sucker punch a person with the goal of knocking them out.

However, the other day I emailed Councilman Jim Graham to ask about MPD's response, and he put me in touch with Third District commander Jacob Kishter. Graham and Kishter said the attacks weren't related to the knockout game. I asked Kishter to clarify:

[In the knockout game] The suspects blind side the victim for no apparent reason and actually sucker punch the victim and knock them out.

Our assaults have been associated with other crimes at the times of the assaults. None of the assaults have been serious.

Graham added that "However, as is always the case, MPD is taking the assaults and public safety in generally very seriously."

This seems to go along with some of the recent reporting on the knockout game, which some reporters and others are calling a myth, or just another name for something that has always happened.