Three teens shot, one fatally, on Montgomery bus

Police were called to the corner of Piney Branch Road and Arliss Street in Silver Spring around 11:08 p.m. for a shooting that had just occurred. Upon arrival, they found three teenagers suffering from gunshot wounds on a county Ride On bus.

A 14-year-old boy, Tai Lam, of Silver Spring, later died of his wounds, and two other boys, ages 14 and 15, remained in serious condition Sunday. Lam was a freshmen at Blair High School.

According to police, two groups, each containing three to five young men, started arguing on the bus. When the bus reached the Piney Branch Road and Arliss Street stop, one group exited and just as they reached the sidewalk, one of the boys turned and fired a handgun into the bus, striking the three teens.

The shooter is a Hispanic male in his early 20s. He’s between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 4 inches tall and has no facial hair. He was wearing a black hooded jacket and bluejeans. He also has a tattoo with some type of lettering on the side of his neck.

Police spokesman Lt. Paul Starks said detectives are looking into the possibility that the shooting was gang-related. He did not know the races of the boys who were shot.

Starks also said it was unclear, at this point, what the letters in the tattoo spelled.

Members of the notoriously violent Salvadoran gang MS-13 are known to typically wear a tattoo marking them as members of the gang.

In recent years, the gang has become well-established in Montgomery County and has been making inroads into area high schools.

Last spring, a group of teens, who were later identified as MS-13 members, at Albert Einstein High School were caught in the midst of a gun-dealing scheme when a gun being sold to another teen went off in a boy’s bathroom. No one was injured and a 20-year-old gang leader was later identified as the driving force behind the weapons sale.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Montgomery County homicide detectives at 240-773-5070.