A teenage boy was charged with murder Tuesday after D.C. police accused him of gunning down a 14-year-old boy at the Brookland Metro Station last week.

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said the 17-year-old suspect was taken into custody Tuesday morning. He will be tried as a juvenile in the April 4 slaying of Avion Evans.

“We are happy to have the suspect off the streets and now we need our juvenile justice system, or our criminal justice system, to hold him accountable,” Chief Smith said.

Avion was killed around 4 p.m. last Thursday, when a gunman opened fire on a group of teens who were brawling on the station platform, police said.

Police said Avion was involved in the melee, but the shooting suspect was not.

The chief credited investigators at the police department’s new Real-Time Crime Center for combing through surveillance footage and broadcasting images of the suspect just minutes after shots rang out.

The crime center is a 24/7 camera surveillance hub located in D.C. police headquarters that gives officers access to hundreds of commercial, residential and transit cameras throughout the city.

Chief Smith and Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon for the new center on Monday, though it had been up and running since February.

The chief said police are working closely with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, who handles all crimes involving juveniles, to determine how to prosecute the suspect.

The alleged shooter could be tried as an adult since he is 17 years old. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the federal prosecutors who handle most major crimes in the city, would take over the case if the boy is moved up to adult court.

If the boy is convicted as a juvenile, he could only remain in D.C. custody until he is 21.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.