US Congressman Henry Cuellar carjacked at gunpoint in Washington

US Congressman Henry Cuellar has been held up at gunpoint in the capital city amid rampant gun-related crime and violence in the country.

Media reports said the incident happened during nighttime at about 21:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Monday at the intersection of New Jersey and K Street in the city's south-eastern Navy Yard neighborhood, just a few blocks from the US Capitol.

Cuellar was parking his car somewhere about 1.6km from the US Capitol in Washington when he was held up by armed robbers on Monday evening.

The Democratic lawmaker from Texas was reportedly approached by three armed people who held guns to his head and took his car, iPad and phone, sources told ABC News. Cuellar was unharmed in the incident and police later recovered his vehicle.

Cuellar's Chief of Staff, Jacob Hochberg, confirmed the carjacking incident in a statement sent on Monday night to ABC News.

“As Congressman Cuellar was parking his car this evening, 3 armed assailants approached the Congressman and stole his vehicle. Luckily, he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement. Thank you to Metro PD and Capitol Police for their swift action and for recovering the Congressman’s vehicle,” the statement read.

Detectives were now working to track down the suspects, US Capitol Police said in a statement.

In the meantime, carjacking has been on the rise in the capital in recent years and the local police department has created a task force to deal with the matter.

So far this year there have been 750 incidents of carjacking in the city. Most of the carjacking incidents involved guns.

ME