Two teenagers arrested for murder of US congressional intern hit by stray bullets

Two teenagers were arrested Friday on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern who was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in Washington DC – a crime that Donald Trump cited in deploying national guard troops in the US capital during the presidential administration’s law enforcement intervention there.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of 30 June near Washington’s Mount Vernon Square. Both suspects in his killing – Kelvin Thomas Jr and Jailen Lucas – are 17 years old, but are being charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to US attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Police were searching for a third suspect whose name and age weren’t immediately released.

Tarpinian-Jachym was an “innocent bystander” who wasn’t an intended target of the gunfire, Pirro said at a news conference where she was flanked by the Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser and the city’s police chief.

“Eric didn’t deserve to be gunned down and the system failed him – the system that felt that juveniles needed to be coddled,” Pirro said. “This killing underscores why we need the authority to prosecute these younger kids, because they’re not kids. They’re criminals.”

Tarpinian-Jachym was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was in Washington to work as a summer intern in the office of Republican congressman Ron Estes of Kansas.

In July, the House observed a moment of silence after Estes paid tribute to Tarpinian-Jachym, calling him “a dedicated, and thoughtful and kind person who loved our country”.

“We will never forget his presence and kindness in my office,” Estes said. “Those he met in his short term in my office will not forget him, either.”

Trump mentioned Tarpinian-Jachym’s killing – but not his name – during an 11 August news conference where he announced the federal intervention in the District of Columbia.

“Any level of gun violence in our city is unacceptable,” Bowser said.

The suspects, both DC residents, exited a vehicle at an intersection and shot at two people riding bikes, including a 16-year-old male who was wounded, according to Kevin Kentish, a Washington DC metropolitan police department (MPD) commander.

Tarpinian-Jachym was struck by four shots. A woman who wasn’t a target was also shot, but survived, according to Kentish. Surveillance video helped investigators identify the three suspects, he said.

Online court records didn’t immediately identify attorneys for the suspects.

Pamela Smith, the MPD chief, said she and Pirro spoke to Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother on Friday.

“Eric came to our city with a bright future ahead of him,” Smith said. “He deserved an opportunity to return home safely to his family, but was senselessly taken from his loved ones.”