Baby Boy Is Fatally Shot, Father Injured in Suitland

Violence Occurs Outside Apartments

An 8-month-old boy strapped in a car seat in a minivan was killed last night when someone shot the infant's father in the parking lot of a Prince George's County apartment building, officials said.

"People on the scene, they did all they could, but they're pretty upset out there," said Capt. Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

The 22-year-old father, who was shot multiple times in the upper body, was taken to a trauma center in critical condition last night, Brady said.

The baby, who was in the minivan's back seat as his father stood outside, died at the scene. The infant's mother had gone into the building, where the family lives, before the shooting.

The violence occurred shortly before 9 p.m. in the parking lot of the Shadyside Gardens apartment building in the 2600 block of Shadyside Avenue in Suitland, officials said.

A 20-year-old resident of the building said she was in a hallway when she heard eight or nine gunshots. She said she grabbed her 5-month-old and "tried to run for cover."

When the gunfire stopped, she looked outside and saw the mother pull her wounded child from the back seat of the bullet-riddled minivan and place the boy on the ground. It appeared that he had been shot in the head, said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she might be considered a witness.

Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, a Prince George's police spokesman, confirmed the woman's account.

Interim Police Chief Roberto Hylton described the scene as "very gut-wrenching. You could see it on the faces of officers.

"We're going to spare no resources on this," he said. "We're going to hunt these individuals down."

Police said they did not know whether the father was the target of the shooting. They had no description of a suspect but said a dark, four-door Chevy Impala was seen leaving the scene.

It was a rare and awful scene, where even firefighters and emergency medical workers were visibly upset, Brady said.

The apartment building has a history of crime problems, residents said. Some said last night that they have endured drug dealing on the street for years.

On a Web site that allows renters to rate their apartments, one resident wrote that "if you own a car get a alarm system fast, your car will be stolen. Watch your back, please do not move to Shadyside Gardens."

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call 866-411-8477.