A 21-year-old intern working in Rep. Ron Estes’s office was shot and killed in Northwest Washington, D.C. on Monday night, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Kansas Republican confirmed.
University of Massachusetts-Amherst student Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, who started his Capitol Hill internship last month, is thought to have been an innocent bystander walking down the street when he was fatally shot by unidentified assailants near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
According to law enforcement officials, multiple suspects got out of a vehicle near the intersection of 7th and M streets and opened fire on a group of people at around 10:28 p.m., striking Tarpinian-Jachym, an adult female and a 16-year-old male. The other two victims suffered non-life-threatening 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 requesting privacy for Tarpinian-Jachym’s family. “We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas’ 4th District and the country.”
Authorities have recovered the vehicle involved in the shooting, and detectives do not believe Tarpinian-Jachym was the intended target of the ambush, MPD said. The police department said in a news release that it is seeking information from the public but provided no additional information about potential suspects.
MPD told The Hill on Thursday that there were no additional updates on the ongoing investigation.
Tarpinian-Jachym’s death was the 85th homicide in D.C. this year, according to MPD’s crime reporting system — down slightly from the same point a year ago. Overall, violent crime has been down about 25 percent this year compared to 2024.
Updated at 10 a.m. EDT
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