WASHINGTON — The search for four masked suspects who gunned down a 10-year-old D.C. girl has turned up the car that the suspects were seen driving, but investigators are still pleading for help from the public in tracking down the gunmen.
In a tweet late Wednesday morning, police said the car — a black Infiniti sedan — had been found in Prince George’s County.
The car was captured on surveillance video pulling up to a courtyard of an apartment complex on 53rd Street in Northeast D.C. Monday evening. Four masked suspects jumped out of the car and began open firing on a crowd of about 15-20 residents who had gathered in the courtyard to enjoy the summer weather, police said.
The girl, Makiyah Wilson, was struck by bullets and taken to a hospital where she died. Four adults — three men and a woman — were also injured in the shooting. Police have not publicly described how severe their injuries are.
Wilson’s shooting has prompted shock and outrage among police, city officials and the community.
Nearly two days after the gunmen opened fire, police remained in the neighborhood of modest brick apartment houses, continuing to ask the public’s help in identifying any of the suspects. A small memorial of balloons and flowers had been placed in front of one of the apartments.
An online fundraiser started by the Wilson family said Makiyah was shot on her way to get ice cream. “The pain that I’m going through — this is never going to be okay. Never in life. That’s my baby,” Donnetta Wilson said on the GoFundMe page, which is seeking to raise $10,000. As of July 18, it had raised about half that amount.
Joy Simmons, who lives a block away from where the shooting took place, said the neighborhood is hurting.
“Morale is really bad,” she told WTOP. “This is a child that got killed. We’re tired of this.”
While most violent crime in the District is down compared to last year, killings have spiked by nearly half this year. So far, this year, there have been 83 homicides, compared to 57 at this time last year.
Anyone with any information about is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or to text the department’s anonymous tip line at 50411. The D.C. Police Department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information leading up to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
WTOP’s Melissa Howell contributed to this report.
