Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating a shooting that killed a man in Northeast DC. The victim has been identified as 23-year-old Ryan Realbuto, of Pittsford, NY, who was volunteering at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park.
According to police, “On Thursday, January 18, 2024, at approximately 10:04 p.m., members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fourth District responded to the 5000 block of South Dakota Avenue, Northeast, for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located a man with gunshot wound injuries. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.”
Realbuto’s family has started a GoFundMe that has raised over $65,000 in less than 24 hours. Per the GoFundMe, “Ryan spent his too short of a life serving others in need. In 2023, he graduated Cum Laude from St. Bonaventure University. Upon graduating, he moved to Washington D.C. to begin working with The Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps. The organization places volunteers in underserved neighborhoods, concentrating on education, social services and health care. The group’s motto is “living simply,” and the volunteers each get a small monthly stipend and live in a communal residence, sharing the highs and lows of their day, learning of the cycle of poverty from each other’s experiences, and how to break it. Ryan was assigned to Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, a Catholic college-preparatory school just outside D.C. that helps at-risk students in a work-study program.”
The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for each homicide committed in the District of Columbia. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.