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Family of victim detail deadly random shooting
A local family is heartbroken after their loved one was hit with a stray bullet. Now, they're speaking out, and they want everyone to know what happened.
WASHINGTON - Authorities have identified the woman struck and killed by a stray bullet Wednesday afternoon while she was in her car in Northeast D.C.
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Pamela Thomas
Police say 54-year-old Pamela Thomas was in her vehicle in the 500 block of Division Avenue around 3 p.m. when gunfire broke out.
Marilyn Walker, Thomas' sister, said she had just picked-up Thomas and Thomas’ eight-year-old son. Both were sitting in the back seat of her SUV as Walker proceeded to drive them back to her house for a family birthday gathering in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
"She didn’t deserve that, you know. She take care of her son, you know and she mind her business. She’s a good mom to her son and everything. She didn’t deserve that," said a tearful Walker.
Walker said she had just left the victim’s home and turned onto Division Avenue when she heard several gunshots and her backseat window shatter. The victim’s sister said she immediately stopped the vehicle and jumped out – she and her eight-year-old nephew were screaming for help.
"At the time I got out her eight-year-old son was in the car with us. And he had blood all over himself, and he said, my mama had been shot," Walker cried.
The victim’s other sister, who told FOX 5 she is Thomas’ twin, said gun laws need to be changed to hold offenders more accountable.
"Mayor Bowser you have to get this stuff together when it comes to the police," Walker said. "You’ve got to do something because innocent people getting killed out here."
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The victim’s sister said she saw officers with guns drawn, chasing a suspect near the area of Marvin Gaye Park. The family is questioning whether the scene involved a shootout with police.
A spokesperson with D.C. Police was adamant none of their officers fired on the scene.
Neighbors, frustrated with the violence in Northeast D.C., told FOX 5 the shooting involved young people or young men shooting at one another. One neighbor described seeing a suspect fire from behind him as he ran away, crossing Division Ave.
According to Police Chief Robert Contee, officers in the area heard the gunshots and screams coming from a vehicle nearby. They responded and found Thomas suffering from gunshot wounds. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she later died from her injuries.
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Contee said it appeared Thomas was not the intended target of the shooting. "Someone was shooting at someone else, and as this car [the victim was in] passed through this location, a stray round went through the vehicle and hit one of the occupants," he said.
Investigators are asking for anyone with information related to the shooting to come forward. Police are offering up to $40,000 for information leading to an arrest in this homicide investigation.
The victim’s family said Pamela Thomas leaves behind two children. We’re told she was very close with her son and with her family. Her sisters also told FOX 5 she loved to cook and was actually bringing with her a meal she prepared for the family birthday gathering.
Police responded to several other calls for shootings in the District Wednesday night in the 2300 block of Good Hope Road, the 100 block of Atlantic Street in the Southeast and near the intersection of 9th and F Streets. None of the shootings have been connected at this time.