WASHINGTON - After
shocking video released by D.C. police last month showed a suspect pulling out a gun and firing at a man selling Jordan shoes at close range, a teenager has been arrested in the case.
Police have charged 18-year-old Stephon Carroll for the armed robbery incident that happened in the 2200 block of T Street in Southeast D.C on Nov. 13.
Police said the victim had arranged to meet up with three suspects, including Carroll, to sell them a pair of Jordan sneakers after connecting through the OfferUp app.
According to police, Carroll is the suspect seen in a white coat in the surveillance video that captured the meeting. He is seen examining the sneakers before taking them in one arm and pulling a gun out of his pocket with his other arm and opening fire.
It all happened right in front of a home recently outfitted with surveillance cameras.
The video is so stunning that at first it appears the salesman has been hit in the face. But according to a court affidavit, the victim was able to push the gun away and ran as police said Carroll fired two more rounds – missing each time.
When the footage was released and hit the media airwaves as well as on social media, the court affidavit says a witness told police “everybody is talking about this incident." It then goes on to say a school resource officer at Anacostia High School along with the principal and the dean of students all "reviewed the Fox5 footage and identified Carroll" and another young man.
"It was a shock because the perpetrator had the gun right at the victim and he shot at the victim,” said Lynda Bowles, the D.C. homeowner whose surveillance camera recorded the shooting. “It was a miracle that he missed.”
Bowles is relieved the footage has led to an arrest. The cameras that captured the incident were part of the reimbursable program that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has set up.
"We have a few more neighbors in the neighborhood who say they are going to get cameras on the D.C. camera list that they have where they reimburse you, and I think it's going to help to deter people,” said Bowles.
Court records show the month before the shooting, Carroll pleaded guilty to destruction of property and unlawful entry under the Youth Rehabilitation Act and was sentenced to 60 days in jail – all of it suspended.
And why