Correction:The Feb. 13 story “Teen injured in shooting near Univ. Town Center” should have stated police have yet to catch the suspect in a shooting at the 3500 block of Toledo Terrace. A map accompanying the story misrepresented the location of the crime, which happened at a bus stop for the Towers at University Town Center.
A teenager was shot in the arm after a fight outside University Town Center in Hyattsville on Monday afternoon, police said.
Residents of the nearby University Town Center student high rise said they still feel safe after the daylight shooting, but some criticized the development for not alerting them about it. Across the street at Prince George’s Plaza, others said they feared shopping alone.
District 1 police commander Maj. Kevin Davis said the shooting broke out at 4:45 p.m. when three teenage males allegedly called out two nearby adults. The verbal fight turned physical and three other adults joined. One of them pulled out a gun and fired on one of the teenagers.
Eyewitnesses said the man with the gun ran away, but police caught him a few blocks away. The wounded teenager fled and tried to board a bus nearby.
Doctors at a local hospital treated him for non-life-threatening injuries, Davis said.
All of the people involved in the incident are from the Hyattsville area, Davis said. Police are not releasing their names because their investigation is still on-going.
“This case is more complicated than most,” Davis said, “because in this incident, the suspect turned into the victim.”
Sophomore criminology major Tommy Loukas, who lives in the Towers, said he learned of the incident on the local news and criticized the Towers for not sending out crime alters.
Still, he and many students interviewed said they still feel safe in the area, which is about a mile from the campus.
“I don’t feel less safe at all,” freshman English major Christopher Holden said. “There are a lot of cops around here all the time.”
Not all students feel as safe anymore, though. Sophomore psychology major Leda Kaveh said she is reconsidering whether she wants to live in her Towers apartment next year.
“I refuse to go to Target by myself anymore,” she added. “I used to go all the time.”
According to Kristle Byrd, a manager at the Target, police are routinely stationed in the parking lot until 2 a.m. She said she feels safe in the store and parking lot, but she believes that police should focus on the community.
Jame DaSilva, a Target security officer, echoed those sentiments.
“I feel perfectly safe here in the store,” he said, “but I think the police should take a more active role in the community outside. They should talk at schools and do more programs with kids to help keep everyone safe and aware.”
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