Listen 3 min

       Share

       Add to your saved stories

       Save

       A security guard on his way into work Saturday night fatally shot a 13-year-old boy who the guard said was among a group of youths who tried to carjack him in the District’s Penn Quarter neighborhood, near public safety buildings and an entertainment complex, according to two police officials familiar with the investigation.

       Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight

       The officials said the guard, waiting for his shift to start, was sitting in his personal vehicle in the 600 block of D Street NW, near the D.C. Superior Court building, when the group approached him shortly after 10 p.m. and demanded his vehicle.

       The guard, a licensed special police officer, told investigators he saw what looked like someone reaching for a weapon, and he fired, striking the boy, who died later at a hospital. The officials said it is unclear if the guard saw a weapon. The other youths ran, the officials said. They said they have the guard’s gun in their possession but did not recover any other weapon.

       Advertisement

       The officials said the guard has not been arrested and is cooperating with authorities. He was not identified and further details about who he was working for were not divulged. Police said Sunday morning that the investigation is thus far preliminary. The officials said they are reviewing video from security cameras.

       Share this article Share

       Police have not yet publicly identified the 13-year-old.

       The shooting comes amid heightened concern over carjackings, which had soared 108 percent in the District this year, compared to the same period in 2022. As of Friday, police said there have been 821 carjackings in the city since January. Carjackings involving juveniles are also up this year.

       In an incident last week, D.C. police said a 16-year-old girl driving a carjacked vehicle crashed into a utility pole in Northeast Washington and was killed. Police arrested a 15-year-old girl who police say was involved in the carjacking. The teen was previously in the custody of the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services because of robbery and theft charges, but the judge said she ordered the teen released because the agency had no available housing for her.

       Advertisement

       Violent crime in D.C. is up 41 percent this year, compared to this period in 2022, according to police statistics. Capital One Arena is several blocks north of where the youth was killed Saturday night, and the Washington Wizards played a home game there that started about three hours before the shooting. The area around 6th and D streets also includes the D.C. Court of Appeals and the D.C. police department’s headquarters.

       A representative from Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Wizards and Capitals, complained in August of “open-air drug transactions” and other crime near the sports complex.

       Share

       Loading...