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Montgomery County Police say the five alleged Prince George's County members of the Bloods, a national gang, charged Wednesday in connection with a shooting last month at Westfield Wheaton mall went to Montgomery County two days before Christmas "with the intent of shooting someone."
"They arrived armed with guns and with the intent to engage in a random shooting," said Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County Police.
A 20-year-old Silver Spring man, who police say is a member of MS-13, was shot and injured. Bullets also shattered the windows of a car the shooters were using as cover and injured two females inside.
Police said the five suspected members of the Bloods gang were also involved in multiple burglaries and car thefts in Maryland and Delaware in the days before and after the shooting.
-Antwuan T. Lee, 18, of the 7700 block of Ora Court in Greenbelt and also known as Walter J. Graves, was charged with first- and second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault.
-Andrew Davies, 19, of the 7600 block of Riverdale Road in Hyattsville was charged with attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault and the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was taken into custody by Montgomery County Police in Riverdale on Tuesday.
-Anthony D. Taylor, 19, of the 1100 block of Morse Street in Northeast Washington, D.C., was charged with attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault and the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was taken into custody by Montgomery County Police in New Carrollton on Tuesday. He and Davies are being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center. Bond information is not available for Lee and two females charged in connection with the shooting.
-Samantha (also known as Cherry) L. Quick, 20, of the 6100 block of Breezewood Court in Greenbelt is charged with accessory after the fact to attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault and making a false statement to a police officer.
-Aliah Kinard, 14, of the 7900 block of Janna Lee Avenue in Alexandria, Va., will be charged as an adult for attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault. As of Wednesday, she and Quick are in police custody in Delaware.
Montgomery County Police found a 1996 Honda Accord with Maryland registration that was stolen from the New Carrollton Metro station on Dec. 22 parked in the Westfield parking lot Dec. 23 near where the shooting occurred, according to Baur.
Police say some of the alleged gang members burglarized houses in Howard County on Dec. 22. The car was registered to one of the homeowners.
The shooting occurred just after 5 p.m. in the parking lot outside Macy's and led to a police chase through the store that disrupted holiday shopping.
An off-duty Montgomery County Police officer noticed the two groups standing outside Macy's preparing to fight.
The officer saw two people, later identified as members of the Bloods gang, pull out guns and begin shooting at MS-13 gang members, injuring an MS-13 member and two females, according to Baur.
After the shooting, police chased Taylor, Davies, Lee and Kinard into Macy's, where a gun used in the shooting accidentally discharged in a dressing room on the main level. No bystanders or officers were injured.
Some of the suspects left the store through an emergency exit in a dressing room and ran into a parking lot, where the officers lost sight of them.
In a search of the department store, police found two guns in the dressing room. One was reported stolen from a Maryland jurisdiction.
Montgomery County Police released video surveillance footage the following week that was taken inside Macy's. After photographs of the suspects were publicized, police received information that helped detectives recover a yellow jacket that police say Lee was wearing. Police found it in a stairwell at the mall with bullets in it, Baur said.
On Jan. 2, State Police from Maryland and Delaware pursued a vehicle Lee, Kinard and Quick were riding in, following a series of burglaries that had occurred on the Eastern Shore. The vehicle crashed and the three were arrested. A handgun was found in the car and Montgomery County detectives, who were looking for Lee, were notified.
Police allege Quick helped the males involved in the shooting flee from Maryland. Police also say Kinard was involved in a series of burglaries with Quick in Howard and Prince George's counties and instigated the confrontation with MS-13 gang members Dec.23.
Baur said a rival gang crossing into the county from another jurisdiction to commit an act of violence is rare, adding, "4th District detectives immediately engaged in an aggressive investigation to find out who was responsible for this violence and to get those individuals off the street."
