A 21-year-old intern for Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) was killed in a shooting in Washington, D.C., on Monday night.
The intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, joined Estes’s office in June. He is a resident of Granby, Massachusetts, and is attending college at UMass Amherst. He will be a senior this fall.
Recommended Stories
- What to know about Wess Roley, the 20-year-old suspect in the Idaho fire shooting
- Trump administration working to prosecute CNN for promoting ICE tracker, 'false reports' about Iran
- Iranian hackers threaten to release Trump associates' emails in 'calculated smear campaign'
Police found Tarpinian-Jachym along with a woman and a 16-year-old male suffering from gunshot wounds after they were called in for the sound of shots fired on the 1200 block of Seventh Street Northwest before 10:30 p.m. on Monday night.
Tarpinian-Jachym died on Tuesday after lifesaving measures failed. The woman and the 16-year-old male survived.
Police don’t believe Tarpinian-Jachym was targeted in the shooting.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that multiple suspects exited a vehicle at the intersection of 7th and M Street, Northwest, and began firing at a group. The suspect vehicle has been recovered. Detectives believe the decedent was not the intended target of the shooting,” a police statement said.
Estes mourned Tarpinian-Jachym, whom he said was kind. “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 on Wednesday. “We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas’ 4th District and the country.”
FEMA’S FORK IN THE ROAD: ABOLITION OR SEAT AT THE CABINET
Tarpinian-Jachym was majoring in finance and minoring in political science, Estes said.
Two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed earlier this year in Washington, D.C., in a highly publicized political violence incident. No evidence has pointed to Tarpinian-Jachym’s killing being politically motivated.