An intern for Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) was shot and killed in a shooting that took place in Washington, D.C. on Monday, according to multiple reports.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) revealed in a press release that Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was one of three people who was reported to have been severely injured as a result of the shooting. The MPD added that they believe Tarpinian-Jachym was “not the intended target of the shooting.”
MPD officers “responded to the sound of gunshots in the 1200 block of 7th Street, Northwest” on Monday evening around 10:28 p.m. and located one adult male to be unconscious, and an “adult female and a 16-year-old male” who were “conscious and breathing suffering from gunshot wounds.”
All three of the victims were reported to have been transported to local hospitals.
The MPD added that on Tuesday, “after all lifesaving measures failed,” Tarpinian-Jachym — who was identified as being the adult male victim, “succumbed to his injuries.”
“I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile,” Estes said in a statement about the rising senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas’ 4th District and the country.”
Estes continued to ask that people join him and his wife, Susan, in “praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time.”
The MPD added in the press release that a “preliminary investigation” showed that several suspects had “exited a vehicle at the intersection of 7th and M Street, Northwest and began firing at a group,” and that the vehicle had been recovered.
