A Maryland man has been charged with murder and other crimes after he allegedly fired shots at four people Sunday, all of whom were in motor vehicles, in what police said was a string of “randomly targeted” attacks in the Upper Marlboro area of Prince George’s County.
Damonte Marcel Williams, 26, of Upper Marlboro, is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Holt III, 65, who also lived in Upper Marlboro, with a rifle Sunday morning, according to charging documents filed in court.
One of Holt’s neighbors said the Holt family has lived in Upper Marlboro for more than 40 years. The neighbor said Holt had worked for the U.S. Postal Service and was involved in a trucking business.
Williams was ordered jailed pending court proceedings.
“Mr. Williams is presumed innocent of the allegations against him, and based on what is currently known, no conclusions should be drawn about what occurred or whether he was involved,” a spokesperson for the Maryland Public Defender’s Office said in a statement.
On Sunday night, the documents say, Williams allegedly used the same weapon to shoot at three people on nearby blocks. Two of them were wounded and the third was unhurt, police said.
A witness told police they were sitting in a vehicle at the Watkins Park Plaza shopping center, on Watkins Park Drive, around 5 a.m. Sunday when they heard four or five gunshots and saw a man run into a grassy area, the charging documents say. About two hours later, police went to the shopping center for a report of an unconscious person and found Holt in a running black Hyundai sedan, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Police said they found spent cartridges and a damaged iPhone at the scene. The phone belonged to Williams, according to the charging documents.
Then, while responding to reports of multiple shootings around 8 p.m. on Darlenen Street — where Williams lived — police found a woman, also sitting in her car, who told them she had been shot while driving, documents say. Police said she was hospitalized in critical condition.
Next, officers moved up the street and found another victim, a man, who had been shot in his parked Jeep Cherokee. He was in stable condition at a hospital as of Tuesday, police said.
During the investigation, police were notified of another victim, who said she had been driving in the same area when Williams shot at her vehicle twice, according to the charging documents. She fled, and while her vehicle was struck, she was not injured.
After hearing more gunfire, police said, officers searched the area and found and arrested Williams near Darlenen Street. They said he matched the victims’ description of the suspect.
Ring camera video provided to police showed Williams firing four shots into the parked Jeep Cherokee, striking the man who was sitting inside, police said in the charging documents. Police said Williams attempted to steal the Cherokee. They said they later found a semiautomatic rifle in the Cherokee after arresting Williams.
Police said tests showed that the spent shells found at the homicide scene had come from the recovered rifle.
Williams was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of prior offenses, according to the charging documents.
His family declined to comment when reached Tuesday.
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