Bodyguards for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor shot and wounded a would-be carjacker outside the justice’s D.C. home last week, federal authorities confirmed Tuesday.
The U.S. Marshals Service said two of its agents were working guard duty early on July 5 when 18-year-old suspect Kentrell Flowers tried to carjack one of the agents at gunpoint near a Northwest condo building.
Metropolitan Police said the marshal pulled out his own gun and shot the suspect. Another marshal sitting in a separate car got out and shot the suspect as well.
Mr. Flowers was taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said. He has been charged with armed carjacking and gun offenses.
“The Deputy U.S. Marshals involved in the shooting incident were part of the unit protecting the residences of U.S. Supreme Court justices,” a Marshals Service spokeswoman told The Daily Mail.
The spokeswoman confirmed to The Mail that the agents were part of Justice Sotomayor’s protection team.
The outlet also reported that the justice owns a condo in the block where the incident occurred.
The USMS did not say if Justice Sotomayor was home at the time.
The attempted carjacking puts another high-profile D.C. figure in proximity to the city’s crime troubles.
Last fall, Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat, was carjacked outside his home in Navy Yard.
And Secret Service agents shot at two teens last November who were seen stealing more than $1,000 of goods from an SUV belonging to President Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi.
Other congressional members and their staffers were either robbed, stabbed or assaulted in 2023, which wound up being the District’s most violent year since the late 1990s.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, the federal prosecutor whose office handles most major crimes in the District, discussed Monday how carjackings have been cut in half since last year’s record-high of 958.
Current police data shows the city is roughly on track to finish 2024 with the same number of carjackings as 2022. The District saw a record of 474 carjackings that year.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.