A man has been arrested and charged Thursday in the killing of a 23-year-old father who was shot at MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Prince George’s County police identified the man who was killed in Wednesday’s shooting as Darnell Hawkins Jr., 23, of D.C.
Hawkins was shot multiple times while ordering at the casino’s food court just before noon Wednesday. He died at the scene, police said.
Benjamin Williams, of Fort Washington, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as assault and gun possession charges in the killing of 23-year-old Hawkins, police said.
“The murder of Mr. Hawkins is not a statistic,” Police Chief George Nader said Thursday. “Mr. Hawkins was a person. He was a father, he was a brother, he was a son. He meant a lot to his family. He meant a lot to his community.”
Williams was taken into custody at a home in College Park at around 2 a.m. Thursday — about 14 hours after the shooting, Nader said.
“What played a vital role in solving this case was the caliber of video at MGM at National Harbor,” Nader said. “There’s almost no areas in the MGM that’s not covered by video, and that was instrumental in bringing this case to a swift closure.”
That video captured the shooting, as well as Williams’ vehicle that he used to drive away from the scene.
“The victim was just standing there ordering his food, the suspect emerged and immediately approached and began shooting at the victim, and only the victim, although there were others in there,” Nader said. “There was no exchange prior to that.”
Officers think the two men knew each other. But they’re still investigating Williams’ motive.
“Once he chased the victim, he continued to shoot him, even once the victim fell to the ground,” Nader said, while describing why police believe the shooting was targeted.
When asked about security at the casino hotel, Nader insisted the area is safe and said police work with MGM National Harbor to keep it secure.
“It’s a shopping mall,” Nader said. “You don’t get checked for weapons when you go into a shopping mall, all of these places, you don’t get checked for weapons. If you go into the casino portion, then you do get checked for weapons.”
Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy agreed about safety at MGM National Harbor and said that crime is going down in the county.
“Today we mourn the death of a young 23-year-old, who had his full life ahead of him,” Braveboy said. “I think one of the important things to note is that this was, we believe, a targeted attack, and that there is no general safety issues at MGM. MGM is a safe place to go.”
Williams, 22, has a prior criminal history, Nader said.
He’s being held without bond at the Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro as he awaits a court hearing, Nader said.
The food court at MGM National Harbor was shut down for hours and several nearby schools were placed on a lockdown as police investigated the shooting Wednesday.
Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to call the department at 301-516-2512.
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