Photo by voteprime.

Have you heard of the so-called “knockout game?” It’s a horrid act where a person or group of people come upon an unsuspecting victim and try to render them unconscious with one blow for no reason.

The issue first gained media attention earlier this year after a 20-year-old man was sentenced to 55 years in prison for killing an elderly man with a single punch in St. Louis and after a 51-year-old man was killed in Syracuse, N.Y. allegedly by two teenagers participating in this “game.” New York City has recently seen similar instances where groups of teens randomly attack Jewish people.

A reader emailed DCist explaing that she was the victim of what appeared to be an instance of the “knockout game” on 14th Street NW in Columbia Heights Thursday evening. She says a group of around eight males on bikes came up behind her, with one hitting her in the back of the head. Thankfully, the perpetrator did not succeed.

A report was filed with the Metropolitan Police Department, a public information officer confirmed. The incident was categorized as a simple assault.

The reader, who we are keeping anonymous, said that this is something she believes other people should be on the lookout for.

Update: Other readers have emailed to say they too have been victims of similar acts of violence.

A male reader reports that a similar attack occurred against him around 10 or 11 p.m. on November 15 in the same area. He was struck in the back of the head by one person riding a bike along with two or three other individuals.