Family demands answers after son killed in Landover double shooting
LANDOVER, Md. - The search continues for a motive and suspect or suspects connected to a deadly New Year’s Eve shooting in Landover.
The shooting was reported just after 8 p.m. Tuesday at the 7500 block of Landover Road.
Police identified victim as 27-year-old Michael Shipman Jr.
The victim was identified this week as 27-year-old Michael Shipman, Jr. of D.C., who was found inside a car with multiple gunshot wounds.
Shipman was pronounced dead at the scene. Another woman was also shot and taken to a hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Shipman’s father, Michael Shipman, Sr., said he was not sure why his son was in the area Tuesday night.
"He does frequent that area, but I don’t know why he was there that day. I just talked to him. I was under the impression that he was somewhere else," he said. "Just a regular normal day, regular conversation."
Shipman said he assumed his son was leaving work. He said his son just started working a waste management job and was turning his life around.
"He was a good, outgoing guy. He was funny, humorous, generous, there when you need him. I don’t know what happened that day. I don’t know what he does in the streets, that’s why I’m not going to say my kid is an angel. I don’t know what he did in the streets."
Family demands answers after son killed in Landover double shooting
Shipman said everyone in his family is grieving differently.
"His siblings are really taking it hard, so he was the baby of them. It’s a little different for them for grieving," he said. "I live realistically. I don’t live in a fantasy land. It is what it is. It is my son, but…we all have our children, and we don’t know what our kids do in the streets. We talk to them. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don’t."
Shipman, Jr.’s death was the 114th homicide of 2024 in Prince George’s County, and the last one of the year.
Data from the department shows there were 120 homicides in 2023.
A spokesperson could not confirm the relationship between the woman and Shipman, Jr., citing a department policy to not disclose identifying information to surviving victims.