Police arrested a 29-year-old man over the weekend in connection to the shooting death of 11-year-old Karon Brown.
According to WUSA9, DC Police Chief Peter Newsham and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Saturday that Tony Antoine McClam was taken into custody and charged with second degree murder while armed.
The incident reportedly started with a fight involving adults and children at around 7 p.m. on Thursday evening at the 2700 block of Naylor Road.
An unidentified Good Samaritan reportedly attempted to get Karon out of the situation and placed him in a vehicle. However, McClam, who was involved in the fight, reportedly ran to the car and shot into the vehicle.
Surveillance footage showed the shirtless 29-year-old running toward the car that Karon was in with a gun. It is still not clear whether Karon was the target of the shooting, according to the police chief.
“It seems hard to believe that an 11-year-old would be,” Newsham said.
Karon was transported first to a fire department and then to the hospital, but ultimately died.
“People who would be so brazen and callous have no regard for human life and have no regard for the innocence of childhood, cannot be allowed to have a gun in our streets,” Bowser said. “We cannot wait for another child to fall victim to senseless gun violence. I’m calling on everyone in the District of Columbia who knows of anyone who has an illegal gun, or someone you know shouldn’t be having a gun…please reach out to us for help.”
“There is absolutely no reason in the world why we should be burying an 11-year-old boy because some adult felt like it was okay to discharge a firearm in our community,” the police chief echoed.
A vigil in memory of Karon is scheduled for Tuesday night near Stanton Elementary playing fields starting at 6 p.m.
Police are still investigating the shooting and are asking anyone with information to contact the police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411.