WASHINGTON — The Maryland man accused of shooting a woman at a school bus stop in Oxon Hill Tuesday morning had been previously ordered by a court to stay away from her.
Roland Eugene Simms, 42, turned himself in to police Wednesday, according to Prince George’s County police. Authorities say he opened fire about 7:12 a.m. Tuesday at a bus stop for Forest Heights Elementary a couple blocks from South Capitol Street and the D.C. line.
A handful of school children were at the bus stop when the gunfire erupted, but only the woman, who is now recovering, was injured. Simms is currently facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, first- and second-degree assault, and other charges.
A spokesman with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office said the incident is frustrating to county officials who are seeking to stamp out domestic violence.
“It breaks your heart,” said John Erzen, spokesman for the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s office in an interview with WTOP. “It’s sad; it’s tragic; it’s also something that makes us very angry, because it’s something we work very hard to try and stop, so that lives are not ruined or damaged going forward. So it’s certainly a very difficult incident.”
Erzen said he did not have details about the filing of the original protective order but said Simms was accused of violating the order last August. He was found not guilty in October. Erzen told WTOP he was working to track down all the details surrounding the October case.
Erzen said the state’s attorney has made a big push on addressing domestic violence, seeking new legislation to combat it, training church leaders on counseling couples in crisis and pooling together government and private resources into a “one-stop shop” of domestic violence resources.
“Domestic violence is not something that can just be solved in courthouse or in a police station,” Erzen said. “It’s something that it takes a whole community response … while we may be frustrated, we are not tired; we are not broken; and we are going to continue moving forward doing everything that we can to eradicate domestic violence from our community.”
