A Silver Spring man was charged Monday with the shooting death of his two sons in their home.
Justin Demetrius Herring, 20, and Jeremy Herring, 18, both of the 14900 block of Dinsdale Drive in the Longmead Crossing community, were found dead in their home Monday morning after their father, Thurmon Herring, 44, called police to report the incident, said Lt. Porsha Jones, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County Police.
Thurmon Herring told police that there was a domestic dispute at the house and two people were dead, Jones said. Police later determined that the father was responsible and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. A bond hearing will be held Tuesday.
Police arrived on the scene about 9 a.m. but did not immediately enter the home because of a strong smell of an accelerant, Jones said. Pete Piringer, a spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, said that it was ‘‘presumably an ignitable liquid of some sort” but could not provide any more specifics. He said investigators believe it was a possible attempt at arson. Fire and rescue officials ventilated the house before deeming it safe to enter.
Later in the afternoon, police officers and investigators were allowed in and found Justin and Jeremy Herring dead from gunshot wounds. The medical examiner’s office in Baltimore will conduct autopsies to determine the exact cause of death.
Police said Monday they did not have a motive.
Terry Harris, a neighbor who lives on Dinsdale Drive, called Jeremy Herring an outstanding young man in the neighborhood.
She said he would help her carry groceries and often saw him get up early on Sunday mornings to go to church.
‘‘I was in a state of shock when I heard his name,” Harris said.
Terry Harris’ husband, Jeffrey, said he has just talked to Thurmon Herring outside the mailboxes Sunday.
‘‘The last thing their father said was he was getting the kids ready for college,” Jeffrey Harris said.
Azzizi Jray, 15, also lives in the neighborhood and went to school with Jeremy Herring at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring.
‘‘He was a good kid and nobody bothered him,” he said.
The Herring brothers were both graduates of Kennedy High School. Justin was attending Montgomery College and Jeremy was hoping to play college basketball this fall.
Diallo Nelson, Kennedy’s head boys basketball coach, said Jeremy Herring would have likely played for Quinnipiac University in Connecticut or Harford Community College in the fall. Nelson called Jeremy Herring an ‘‘optimistic kid.”
‘‘I have been around a lot of athletes that are as accomplished as he was and they are cocky and full of themselves, but that wasn’t him,” Nelson said. ‘‘He was as looked up to and as liked as any athlete that walked the halls here at Kennedy.”
Nelson said Herring’s family members were regulars at the games. ‘‘I know that the family was always supportive of him, that they were at all of his games. Not just his mom and dad, but his aunts and uncles and cousins. My heart goes out to the rest of his family.”
Some friends were visibly distraught and emotional upon hearing the news.
‘‘He was my best friend since third grade,” said Pablo Gonzales, who also graduated from Kennedy in June. ‘‘I loved Jeremy to death. I don’t know why anyone would do anything to him.”
Staff writer Chay Rao contributed to this story.
