One man has been arrested and at least six people were injured after several shootings and carjackings on Friday afternoon in the northern part of Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader said at a news conference Friday evening that a string of crimes lead up to the shooting.
Nader said around 2:30 p.m., officers received reports of a man with a gun shooting from their car in the 5100 block of Pierce Avenue in College Park.
Around 2:50 p.m., Nader said the suspect, Larry James Simpson, 68, shot at 64-year-old man in a car, the shots breaking a glass window which cut the man’s face.
Shortly after that, officers received a call for a car accident in the area of 67th Avenue and Patterson Street in the East Riverdale area around 3 p.m. Nader said a Simpson got out of the crashed vehicle and began shooting at people in the area, injuring at least five people.
Simpson later shot at and carjacked a woman in the area of Good Luck Road and Kenilworth Avenue in Riverdale Park.
“At that carjacking, an off-duty Prince George’s County Police officer, who was unarmed in his personal vehicle, who was alerted that there was a shooting going on in the area by his wife, who is also a police officer, observed the carjacking … and began to follow the suspect, ” Nader said.
When police arrived in the 900 block of Edmonston Road, Simpson got out of the vehicle and fired at the off-duty officer. U.S. Park Police arrived on the scene and Simpson pointed the gun at them.
“We believe that he was out of bullets at that time. He dropped the weapon and was taken into custody with no additional shots being fired,” Nader said.
Nader added that officials have recovered the AR-15 rifle that Simpson was using.
Police said two victims have been transported to a hospital for treatment, with one in critical condition and the other with life-threatening injuries. Authorities said there is no threat to the community and there are no outstanding suspects.
Simpson was also transported to a hospital with injuries Nader said he sustained in the car accident.
This is the weapon recovered at one of the scenes. pic.twitter.com/su6xKIWXh8
— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) May 15, 2026
Police say Simpson is charged with 16 accounts of attempted first degree murder and 16 counts of attempted second degree murder.
“I’ve not seen bravery like that in my 33 years of service,” Nader said of the unarmed off-duty officer who followed the shooter.
Nearby schools in the area were temporarily placed on lockdown due to police activity. The lockdown was lifted for most of the schools around 4:25 p.m.
WTOP Traffic reporter Dave Dildine said at least three Maryland state highways were partially or completely blocked by various police agencies, including Route 193 Greenbelt Road at Kenilworth Avenue, Route 201 Kenilworth Avenue at Campus Drive and Route 410 Riverdale Road under the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Below is a map of where part of the shooting took place:
Police are asking any other victims or witnesses to contact gun crimes unit at 301-772-8960.
WTOP’s Jeffery Leon contributed to this story.
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