A man has been arrested days after 11-year-old Karon Brown was shot inside of a vehicle at an intersection in Southeast D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham said 29-year-old Tony Antoine McLam was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed.
During a news conference over the weekend, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “We cannot wait for another child to fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
Police said Brown was at a gas station with his 12-year-old brother when several adults got into an argument and began shooting. At some point, the 11-year-old made it into a car at the gas station when the suspect fired multiple shots into the car, striking the boy.
Local leader and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Paul Trantham said, “The individuals that live in Ward 8 should be outraged, at that 11-year-old could be shot in broad daylight and some ignorant individual can come out and disregard cameras and human life. You’ve got kids walking these streets.”
Police confirmed one shooter in the Brown case, who was seen running away from the scene, shirtless, with an object in his hand. Police say he was with four other people and MPD is asking anyone nearby with home surveillance cameras to check them for any useful evidence.
“People who would be so brazen and callous without any regard for life should never get close to a gun,” Bowser said. “We need everyone’s assistance in telling us if a person has an illegal gun … we need to be able to help them get rid of that gun.” The reward for information leading to arrest increased to $50,000, Bowser announced Friday.
Brown’s death happens a little more than a year since another child, 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, was shot and killed in Northeast D.C. on July 16, 2018.
“It’s a lot of emotional infighting that’s happening,” said Clayton Rosenberg of Alliance of Concerned Men. “There’s different things out here that trigger people because they’re dealing with trauma.”
According to NBC Washington, Brown’s killing is the 88th so far this year for the D.C. area, an increase from this time last year. Many were innocent victims under 18, such as a three-year-old and a 6-year-old who were shot and wounded at a bus stop last month as well
as 15-year-old Maurice Scott who was killed in front of his school in May.
Rest In Peace to Karon Brown and many condolences to his family ??
