Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old congressional intern from Granby, Massachusetts, was killed in a shooting Monday night outside a Washington, D.C., metro station.
Tarpinian-Jachym was killed by a stray bullet from targeted gunfire near the intersection of 7th and M Street at around 10:28 p.m., according to The Metropolitan Police Department.
The shooting occurred when multiple suspects emerged from a vehicle and began shooting at a group of people, police said. Tarpinian-Jachym was one of three victims shot, alongside an adult female and a 16-year-old male.
Tarpinian-Jachym was unconscious when police arrived, whereas the other two shooting victims were found conscious. All three were transported to local hospitals, where Tarpinian-Jachym died from his wounds on Tuesday morning. The other two victims were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police have found the vehicle used by the shooters but have not yet announced any arrests. They are searching for “multiple suspects,” and are offering a standard reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to the arrests and convictions of those responsible for Tarpinian-Jachym’s killing.
As a summer intern in the House of Representatives, Tarpinian-Jachym had been working for Congressman Ron Estes (R., Kansas) through June. He was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst pursuing a major in finance and a minor in political science.
On Wednesday, Congressman Estes and his wife, Susan, released a statement expressing their condolences to the family of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.
“I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile,” the statement reads. “We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas’ 4th District and the country. Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time.”
Estes has represented Kansas’s 4th congressional district since April 2017, having filled the seat vacated by Mike Pompeo, the former CIA Director and Secretary of State under the first Trump administration. He currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Budget Committee, and Joint Economic Committee, and chairs the Social Security Subcommittee.