Robbed at Gunpoint, Barry Harbors 'No Animosities'

Monday's robbery was not the first time Barry has been the victim of violence. He was shot above the heart by a stray bullet during the 1977 takeover of city hall by a group of Hanafi Muslims -- an experience that he said was less scary than what happened at his home Monday evening.

"On March 7, 1977, in this very same building, I walked across the hall and heard something ring out," Barry remembered yesterday. "And I got hit in my chest. I didn't even have time to think.

"In this incident, I had a chance to see it. I was much more frightened, much more emotionally involved. It was a horrific experience to face a gun," Barry said. "I could see my life flash before me at that moment."

Monday's episode began about 9 p.m. when Barry returned from shopping for groceries at a Safeway store in Southwest Washington. He parked outside his beige-brick apartment building in the 2600 block of Douglas Place SE, part of a neighborhood that police say has problems with drug dealing and burglaries but generally is not affected by the level of violence in harder-hit areas of Barry's ward. The young men, whom Barry said he did not recognize, asked if they could help carry his bags upstairs.

"Mr. B, can we help you with your groceries?" Barry said one of the youths asked him.

Such requests are common, Barry said.

"When I go home in the evening or come out in the morning or weekend, the young people are all over me, asking for money, begging for money. 'Give me a dollar. Give me five dollars,' " Barry said. "So I try to make a practice of making them work for what they get."

Barry gave the young men several bags. After helping him, they asked if they could have some candy in a dish on a dining room table. He and the young men talked a bit. Barry then handed the two a few dollars and they left.

About 15 minutes later, they came back.

"I just let them in. That's how we do it over there. At least that's how I do it," Barry said.

Once inside the apartment, one of the men pulled out "a gun and pointed it at my face and pushed me into the kitchen," he said.

The assailants quickly fled with Barry's wallet. Police said they were stepping up patrols in the neighborhood to prevent other robberies and to gather information about the assailants.

Yesterday, Barry called for a summit among the city's leaders to address gun violence. And he said he will prod the council to pass a bill he introduced to stiffen penalties for carrying a gun in the District. The proposed legislation would also prohibit judges in most cases from granting pretrial release to defendants facing gun charges.

"Violence is everywhere," Barry said. "Guns are everywhere. This ought to be the number one priority in our city -- saving lives, getting guns off the street and rehabilitating young people."

Staff writer Eric M. Weiss contributed to this report.