The fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Black middle-school pupil in Washington DC has prompted outcry among community members as police begin to release more details.
Karon Blake, a student at Brookland middle school in the north-east of the city, was shot in the early hours of Saturday by a man who, police said, opened fire after he “heard noises” outside his home and “observed someone that appeared to be tampering with vehicles”.
The gunman, who police have not named, was carrying a licensed firearm and opened fire after “an interaction” with the teenager, police said. Law enforcement officials have indicated Karon was unarmed.
At a press conference on Tuesday the chief of the Metropolitan police department (MPD), Robert Contee, declined to name the gunman but described him as an “African American person” who was “not law enforcement”.
The man had employed legal representation and gave an account of what happened to responding officers at the scene of the shooting, police said. Officers arrived to find the man performing CPR on Blake, Contee said.
Before a community meeting on Tuesday evening, at which residents continued calls to name the man, Contee called for calm and said “misinformation [was] swirling around this incident”.
“Too many people have made assumptions about this case, and it is unfair to the grieving family,” he said. “Spreading inaccurate information is dangerous, reckless, and has the potential to adversely impact the investigation and the relationships in our community.”
Local politicians have urged a prompt investigation. The US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia said it was “thoroughly investigating this matter”.
Zachary Parker, a DC councilman, said in a statement: “No car or material possession is worth a life – under any circumstance. I join ward five residents in calling on the MPD and the US attorney’s office to hold accountable the individual who took Karon’s life.”
Christina Henderson, a DC councilwoman, said: “Property is not greater than life. Karon should be alive today.”
On Monday, the Brookland middle school principal, Kerry Richardson, sent a note to teachers that was later shared with the media. It described Karon as a “quiet and inquisitive scholar who loved fashion and football”.
The note added: “Although he loved his neighborhood, he loved Brookland MS (the faculty and his peers) and the structure it presented to him even more. He leaves behind his mom and three younger siblings.”
The school planned to offer mental health support to students and staff.
On Monday, the Washington mayor, Muriel Bowser, addressed the shooting at a press conference.
“If you feel there is a public safety issue in and around your home, call 911,” she said. “That is the appropriate thing to do.
“We would rather be talking about a 13-year-old going to school today instead of talking about him being killed on one of our streets, and I’m incredibly sad about that.”
