A teenage student has died following a shooting in front of DuVal High School Monday afternoon, according to police in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Acting Deputy Chief Zachary O’Lare said at a news conference following the shooting that the female student was walking on Palamar Drive shortly after school around 3:45 p.m., when there was a dispute between two groups nearby. A gun was fired and she was fatally struck, later dying from her injuries.
O’Lare also said it is not clear at this time whether she was a part of one of the two groups involved or whether the dispute was between students.
The shooting prompted the lockdown of nearby DuVal High School and Robert Goddard Middle School, which were lifted by 5 p.m.
Teenagers at the scene looked stressed and tearful as the school tried to maintain calm. Police tape covered the entrance to Palamar Drive as officers investigated an area within feet of the practice fields at the high school.
Prince George’s County Deputy Director of Homeland Security and Public Safety Barry Stanton, called the “senseless violence” that led to the student’s death “frustrating” and “mind-boggling.”
“This is heartbreaking, to see one of our students go through violence like they went through today,” Stanton said. “On behalf of County Executive (Angela) Alsobrooks, we want to express our condolences to the family and the students of Prince George’s County.”
Schools Superintendent Millard House also said that the community is grappling with the loss of a “bright and vibrant PGCPS student.”
“PGCPS plans to have, of course, crisis counselors on campus, for as long as it takes, to support our students during this very difficult time,” House said. “We must come together as a community to truly ensure that this sorrowful type of incident does not happen in the future.”
House said they are moving up the security enhancement rollout at DuVal High School that the school system introduced to a few schools across the county before the first day of classes.
There is no suspect at this time, but O’Lare said the police “are determined to find a suspect who callously, in broad daylight, killed one of our teenagers in our community.”
The approximate location of the shooting is below.
WTOP’s John Domen contributed to this report.
