WASHINGTON — The lunchtime shooting at a D.C. McDonald’s near the Verizon Center earlier this month that seriously injured a man and left him unable to speak for several weeks was sparked by a $40 marijuana deal gone wrong, according to a D.C. police affidavit.
Three suspects have been arrested in the shooting, ranging in age from a 15-year-old from Southeast D.C. who has been charged with assault with intent to kill, to 20-year-old Lafayette Booker of Northeast, who has been charged with assault with intent to rob. A 17-year-old from Capitol Heights, Maryland, has also been charged with assault with intent to rob.
The man was shot in the McDonald’s restroom Aug. 12 shortly before noon after arranging to sell the suspects $40 worth of marijuana.
Surveillance video captured two of the suspects following the man into the restaurant’s restroom where he was shot after taking the marijuana out of his book bag to weigh it, according to the police affidavit.
One of the suspects told police there was a disagreement among the four about how to pay for the $40 worth of drugs. One suspect allegedly said he didn’t have any money, and another suspect said that meant he couldn’t smoke with them.
However, another suspect told police none of the four had any money and never intended to pay the man.
Surveillance video shows the two suspects exiting the bathroom, walking “calmly” away from the scene of the shooting, according to the police affidavit. The victim is then shown “falling out of the bathroom, crawling on his knees, appearing disoriented and bleeding profusely.”
The victim, who was taken to the hospital in serious condition with damage to his carotid artery, suffered a bullet wound to the right side of his cheek and a large hole in his left ear. He was unable to speak for several weeks after the shooting and communicated with police by hand signals and by writing, according to the affidavit.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article misstated the number of suspects involved in the shooting. Police said three suspects were involved.
