Fueled by instinct and raw tenacity, fireman Gary “Zeek” Dziekan survived a nearly fatal encounter with a mugger in Washington, D.C.

The incident left the alleged mugger, 17-year-old Marcellus Dyson Jr., with a bullet hole in his hand and a stack of charges, including aggravated assault while armed, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during a violent crime, according to The Washington Post on Monday.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Dyson was charged as an adult.

“There will be no more coddling of young criminals,” Pirro reportedly said at a news conference Monday. “This case is another example of juveniles with a gun who are going after the law-abiding citizens of the District.”

It happened around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, as Dziekan, 42, walked home from a barbecue, according to a United States Attorney’s Office news release.

He had just crossed a street near his home when he heard someone run up behind him.

Dziekan turned and saw a pistol pointed at his chest, its wielder donned in all black, a hood, and a COVID mask.

“Give me everything you got,” the man reportedly told Dziekan, telling him to unlock his Apple Pay phone app.

Although he handed over the phone, he couldn’t remember the password.

“I was certain he was going to shoot me because I couldn’t get the phone open,” Dziekan said.

Dziekan grabbed the barrel of the pistol and, during the struggle, Dyson allegedly fired into his chest.

It also blew a hole in the alleged mugger’s hand.

Dyson reportedly ran off screaming, dropping the pistol as he did.

At this point, Dziekan was on the ground when the mugger returned for the handgun.

Dziekan picked it up, but it was reportedly jammed, according to The Washington Post.

He cleared it before firing two shots at Dyson, who fled and didn’t return.

Bleeding out, the fireman dialed 911 as he plugged the chest wound with his shirt.

“I knew if I kept bleeding like that it wasn’t going to go well,” he said. “So my training kicked in.”

But as he bled, 911 didn’t answer his call.

A pedestrian walked up, and Dziekan asked them to call the fire station where he worked.

“He said ‘It’s Zeek. I’ve been shot and I’m at Eighth and C Northeast. I’m bleeding and I need help.’ I just said we’re on our way,” Captain Sam Cutler of Engine 18 said of the incident, according to WUSA-TV in D.C.

Thankfully, he was just a few blocks from the station.

“We turned on the flood lights to light up the scene and saw him sitting there hunched over and holding his chest. It just hits you right here. Unbelievable,” firefighter Michael Johnson said.

A D.C. firefighter described the moment he was shot in his Capitol Hill neighborhood after someone approached him and demanded his phone. The teen suspect will be charged as an adult, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said. https://t.co/5j1C4xmDXP

— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) September 22, 2025

As for Dyson, police arrested him after a witness saw him screaming for help, according to the Attorney’s Office news release.

Officers took him to Howard Hospital.

“I’m sorry and I won’t do it again,” Dyson reportedly told police during the drive.

Meanwhile, doctors told Dziekan that if the bullet had struck a centimeter to the left or right, he would have died.

Today, he lives with a bullet in his chest, as surgeons determined it would be unsafe to remove it.

But he’s home now, and thankful for his brothers at the firehouse.

“I knew if I called, they’d be there,” he told The Washington Post.

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