The shooting death of a man near an elementary school in Prince George’s County Thursday night is the county’s fourth killing this week, reminiscent of a spree of murders earlier this year that had appeared to have leveled off in the last two weeks. The killing is the 20th for Prince George’s County in 2011, though police consider only 19 criminal homicides.
In responding to a call Thursday night to the 13000 block of Mistletoe Spring Road in Laurel, police said they found a man suffering from gunshot wound near Deerfield Run Elementary School.
Lynn McCawley, a spokeswoman for the Prince George’s County school system, said the victim was found on an athletic court at a community center near the school, but not on the school’s property.
The Deerfield Run Community Center, according to its website, shares a gymnasium with the school, though its ball fields, basketball court and playground are outside the school’s property.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, said police spokesman Cpl. Erica Johnson. The spokeswoman said no other details were available Friday morning.
“There is no suspect right now. We are still looking for a suspect,” Johnson said.
A person who answered the phone at the Deerfield Run Community Center declined to comment, though mentioned that police have been in the area for most of Friday morning.
Police also have requested an autopsy for human remains spotted in the woods Thursday by a driver along Interstate 495 at Suitland Parkway. Police spokeswoman Michelle Reedy said officers are “not yet” investigating it as a homicide. “Of course, we won’t know anything on that until after the autopsy,” she said.
On Monday, police said 27-year-old Darian Michael Hinton was shot and killed in Oxon Hill on the 900 block of Kennebec Street. On Sunday, Ralph Bernard Thomas Jr., 28, was found stabbed to death in Suitland and 44-year-old Christopher Alan Trueheart was found dead inside his Temple Hills apartment, according to police.
Authorities have charged 42-year-old Eldridge Slaughter, 42, with first-degree murder for Trueheart’s death.
The four homicides this week comes after almost two weeks without any reported killings, a respite from a spree in murders at the beginning of the year.
In responding to the outbreak of violence in January, police brought in help from federal agents — some of whom embedded with the county’s homicide squads — and stepped up saturation patrols of high-density crime areas. Police have attributed those efforts to the decrease in crime in recent weeks.
