Man in critical condition after Montgomery Village shooting

Incident not believed to be gang-related

Montgomery County Police officers from the 6th District station responded shortly after 10 p.m. on Aug. 19 to the 9900 block of Ridgeline Drive after reports of shots fired. Blood was found on the sidewalk and neighbors said they heard several gunshots, according to a statement from police.

While officers were still on the scene, a man arrived and told police that his friend was shot and that he had taken him to the hospital.

The victim, who was shot more than once, was flown from that hospital to a trauma center, suffering from life-threatening injuries, police said. He is in critical condition and is expected to survive, police said.

Police do not believe the incident to be a gang-related, said Officer Melanie Brenner, police spokeswoman.

"They're just getting a lack of cooperation from the victim and from neighbors," she said.

In recent months, police have been investigating a series of shots fired near the same block, which police said were related to an incident involving more than 20 gunshots into homes and vehicles on State Court in Gaithersburg in July. Sixth District Commander Capt. Alan Goldberg said that the Aug. 19 shooting is likely not a part of those retaliatory shots.

"I'm pretty confident that it probably isn't, other than a bunch of drug dealers pissing each other off," he said Tuesday. "We expect some arrests out of the case, but it's most likely not related to the shootings on State Court."

Police say that two men involved in last week's shooting ran from the area and got into a gold-colored Honda, possibly an Accord.

Police described one suspect as a short black man in his 30s with a heavy build, wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt with a jacket tied around his waist. The other is described as a black man in his 20s, of average height and a thin build, wearing black pants and a white T-shirt, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 301-840-2347.