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Uber driver shot by carjackers in Southeast DC even after he gave up the keys to the vehicle

Juan Carlo Amaya of Silver Spring spoke to WUSA9 by phone from his hospital bed, saying he was shot even after he gave up his keys.

WASHINGTON — An Uber driver who was the victim of a carjacking late Friday in Southeast D.C. says the riders shot him even after he gave up the car at gunpoint.

“They say, give me the keys! Give me the keys! Give me the keys!” recalled 46-year-old Juan Carlo Amaya of Silver Spring as he spoke to WUSA9 by phone from his hospital bed.

“I just give them the car and so they're ready to go. Why did they shoot me in my leg? They’re supposed to just go but they shoot me!”

Amaya has six kids and is driving Uber to make ends meet, he said.

Amaya says he picked up two riders on Southview Drive just over the D.C. line in Oxon Hill, Prince George’s County.

He drove them to the requested address on Bruce Place SE, arriving just before midnight.

Credit: WUSA9
Credit: wusa9
46-year-old Uber driver Juan Carlos Amaya of Silver Spring says armed carjackers shot him after he complied with demands to give up his car.

Amaya said both riders pulled guns and held them to his head, demanding the keys to the car.

The gray Toyota Corolla stolen from Amaya was last seen on the 1400 block of Shippen Lane SE, D.C. driving toward Alabama Avenue in Southeast, according to police.

The identity of the suspects is not known.

While Amaya is recovering, other ride-share carjackings this year have been fatal. 

Another Uber driver, 71-year-old Abdul Rauf Kahn, was killed during a carjacking in Temple Hills on Feb. 26. In that case, three teens were charged after allegedly using the stolen Uber to commit another carjacking.

Police in D.C. and Prince George’s County say they are responding to the carjacking epidemic by sharing resources and information across boundaries, but say juvenile offenders are often released back into the community.

RELATED: Police: 16-year-old shot, killed in Northeast DC

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