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DC Road Named in Honor of First Black Woman Officer Killed on Job

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The District named the 300 block of 14th Place, Northeast, after Officer Gail Cobb, the first African American female police officer killed in the line of duty in the United States.

Cobb, a member of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was born in DC in 1950. She joined MPD in 1973, becoming one of the first female police officers in the Department.

Cobb was tragically shot and killed on September 20, 1974 during an attempted robbery at the Eastern Liberty Federal Savings and Loan office at 21st and K Streets, Northwest. She was only 24.

Responding officers during the incident had approached two suspects outside the bank. The suspects fled the scene while shooting at the officers following a physical altercation. One of the suspects entered a parking garage a few blocks away.

Officer Cobb encountered the suspect, John Bryant, coming out of a restroom, while searching the garage. She ordered him to put his hands on the wall, but Bryant shot her. The bullet reportedly went through her wrist and into her heart. She was rushed to George Washington University where she was pronounced dead.

The move follows a bill that passed the DC Council in October to symbolically rename the street as “Gail Cobb Way.” The bill titled the “Gail Cobb Way Designation Act of 2020” was introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen in January.

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