Two teens arrested in shooting death of Rep. Ron Estes’ intern
Two 17-year-olds were arrested Friday morning on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 21-year-old college student who was interning for Kansas Rep. Ron Estes in Washington, D.C.
The teens, who U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said both have prior records of violence as juveniles in family court, will be charged as adults.
“His death is a stark reminder of how fragile life is and how violence too often visits us in the nation’s capital,” Pirro said in a press conference Friday morning.
The teens were arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a University of Massachusetts Amherst student and an intern for Estes.
“I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile,” Estes said in a July press release.
Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, was struck and killed by gunfire shortly before 10:30 p.m. June 30, when three people left a stolen vehicle and opened fire on two people riding a bike, Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Kentish said in a press conference Friday morning. One of the people on the bike, a 16-year-old, was injured but survived the shooting.
Tarpinian-Jachym was shot four times and died at a hospital. A woman was also hit. Based on the department’s investigation, Kentish said, neither was a target of the shooting.
“He was an innocent bystander — innocent bystander — who was caught in a violent act that was not meant for him,” Pirro said.
Detectives think the shooting was the result of an ongoing neighborhood crew dispute.
“I want to echo what we’ve heard today about ensuring that there is justice for Eric. Any level of gun violence in our city is unacceptable and certainly someone just walking up the street in the evening on one of our D.C. streets should be safe in doing so,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said during the press conference.
Kentish said Metropolitan Police officers, as well as other agencies who lent their help and resources, spent hundreds of hours analyzing surveillance video footage. That analysis, as well as the assistance of community members and other recovered evidence, led to the identification of three suspects.
On Friday morning, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and United States Marshals arrested the two 17-year-olds in D.C. A third suspect, Kentish said, has not yet been arrested; that person is a teenager but not a minor.
“We hope news of these two arrests and a third one pending — I’m confident we’ll get the third one — gives Eric’s loved ones some sense of peace as they continue to grieve a tremendous loss.” Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said during the conference.
