A 2-year-old boy was killed and his mother wounded after a Thursday evening shooting outside an apartment complex in the Langley Park neighborhood of Maryland.
The boy was identified as Jeremy Poou-Caceres of Chillum, according to a news release Friday from Prince George’s County police. Earlier, police had said the boy was 3.
The shooting happened in the 1400 block of Kanawha Street around 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
A detective working in the area responded to the scene after hearing gunshots and discovered the child and young mother. The detective used his department-issued trauma kit to try to perform life-saving measures on the boy until an ambulance arrived, police said.
The mother was taken to a D.C. hospital. The toddler was taken to Children’s National Hospital, where he later died.
At a news conference Thursday evening, Prince George’s County Deputy Chief Barry Stanton called the shooting a “senseless act of violence that no community should accept, ever.”
“This is trauma not only to the family but in the community,” he said, vowing to “do all we can to get the perpetrators of this senseless act of violence.”
The mother of the child was in stable condition after receiving treatment on Thursday night, according to Assistant Police Chief Vernon Hale III. He urged anyone with information about the suspects to come forward.
He said the child did not deserve to die “because someone wants to come out here and play with guns” and added, “I can only pray that they weren’t trying to kill a child.”
WTOP’s Scott Gelman reported from the scene and added that police said it “was too early to say” if this case is related to another incident that was happening in the area.
Police are actively investigating this case and are asking for anyone with information to contact them.
“This isn’t about snitching, this is about justice for the victims,” Hale said.
A $25,000 reward through Crime Solvers will be given to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest.
“We need you. We need the media. We need the community. We need friends of these individuals. We need anybody that was here and saw this to help us,” Hale said.
Below is a map of the area where it happened:
WTOP’s Jack Moore contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: Police initially said the toddler was 3 years old but in a news release sent later clarified that the boy was 2.
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