Background: The 1600 block of Rosedale Street in Washington, D.C. (Google Maps). Inset: Ahmad Mims looks through his apartment’s Ring camera before he was killed (WRC/YouTube).
A 13-year-old Washington, D.C., boy was reportedly called out of his apartment moments before he was shot in the chest and later found after being “dragged to the sidewalk,” according to authorities and witness accounts.
The Metropolitan Police Department identified the victim as Ahmad Mims in a public announcement. While investigators continue working to determine who was behind the fatal shooting, people close to the case believe they may understand what led to the attack.
Ahmad lived in an apartment along the 1600 block of Rosedale Street in the nation’s capital. On Saturday evening, witnesses said, he was inside his home when someone came to the door and asked him to step outside.
“They knocked on the door to ask him to come outside,” Ahmad’s grandmother, Monica Mims, told local NBC affiliate WRC. When the interviewer asked whether that was the “last time anybody saw him,” she answered yes and broke down in tears.
Ring camera video shared by his grandmother shows two seemingly young males standing in the hallway outside the apartment as Ahmad opens the door. After spotting them, he shuts the door and then looks through the camera.
At some point afterward, police believe Ahmad was inside a building on the block when he was shot in the chest and killed.
Court records obtained by the station describe a grim scene. One witness said Ahmad’s body was seen “laying on the front stairwell” of a Rosedale Street building, “with his feet facing the front door and his head on the stairs.” The witness also reported seeing him “being dragged to the sidewalk by a Black male, wearing all black clothing and with a muscular build.”
Officers with MPD responded to the area at about 8:30 p.m. that evening due to a report of a “person shot.” They found Ahmad “unconscious and not breathing, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the chest.”
He was pronounced dead minutes later.
“To, like, drag him out like a bag of trash, that just hurts me even more,” Mims said. “Like, a little boy that can think like that, to even drag someone outside after you shoot ’em.”
The age of the suspect or suspects is unclear. Ahmad’s grandmother reportedly said he had been in a fight at school recently, though police have not shared whether they believe that is connected to the killing.
Witnesses, however, have told authorities they believe Ahmad was killed for hitting the suspected shooter’s sister. MPD has said the homicide investigation is ongoing.
“Anyone who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,” MPD said, adding that anyone who gives information that leads to an arrest and conviction can be rewarded with up to $25,000.
