A suspect in three robberies committed against trans women.

/ Courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department

D.C. police are searching for a man they say robbed three transgender women at gunpoint in Northeast on July 22 and July 24.

All three robberies happened in the early hours of the morning. The first victim told police she was sitting on the corner of 2nd Street and I Street NE at around 3:50 a.m. on July 22 when a black Jeep Cherokee pulled up, according to a police report of the incident. The driver got out of the car, brandished a gun, and demanded that the victim hand over her purse. She dropped her purse and ran off. The victim told police that she turned and saw the suspect rifling through her purse on the ground, per the report. He stole her house and car keys and drove off. She was able to return to retrieve what was left of her belongings.

The second robbery happened around 2:14 a.m. on July 24 in the 600 block of K Street NE. The victim reported that a dark colored car drove up, and a man emerged and brandished a silver handgun, according to the police report. He demanded the victim’s property, and she complied. He stole her purse, ID card, and cellphone.

The third robbery happened the same day about 45 minutes later, at 2:50 a.m. in the 500 block of Hunt Place NE. The victim reported that the suspect drove up in a gray Jeep Liberty, got out of the car brandishing a silver handgun, and demanded she hand over her property, the police report says. She complied, and the suspect drove off with her iPhone 7, a fanny pack, a phone charger, and her credit card. He then fled in the Jeep and was last seen on Eastern Avenue NE, per the report.

Right across the border in Fairmount Heights, Md., two trans women have been murdered on Eastern Avenue since the end of March—Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears.

“Please, we are saying to the trans community, please avoid going on Eastern Avenue. Please. It’s not a safe space to go up there,” transgender activist Earline Budd told DCist after Spears’ death in June.

The suspect in these robberies is described as a black male in his 20s or 30s, between five foot seven and five foot eleven. He was wearing brown overalls and a black skull cap, according to police, who saw the suspect on a nearby surveillance camera. Police did not say whether officers believe the individual was targeting trans women specifically.