Washington D.C. honor student and basketball star killed steps from his school

Maurice Scott, who spoke so highly of the city he lived in as part of a video done for his school, was shot to death in a hail of bullets by an unknown assailant

A Washington, D.C community is mourning this week after a teenage boy with a bright future was gunned down in a parking lot just a few blocks from his school in the Congress Heights neighborhood. According to Fox 5 News...


 

A community in Washington D.C. is mourning this week after a teenage boy with a bright future was gunned down in a parking lot just a few blocks from his school in the southeast area of the city.

According to local station WTTG, Maurice Scott, a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Somerset Prep DC Public Charter School, was shot in the head Sunday outside of Holiday Liquors and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

READ MORE: Father grieves after 16-year-old honor student is murdered on his way home from work ‘He was just a good kid’

Washington Police Chief Peter Newsham says investigators believe a car pulled up to the scene, and a man with a rifle opened fire, fatally striking the teen and also injuring two women and a young girl — who are all expected to survive.

“Maurice’s smile lit up the school, you couldn’t help but smile back when you saw his dimples come through,” Somerset Principal Lauren Catalano said in an email to the Washington Post.

Scott was incredibly popular amongst fellow students and faculty alike, and described as a talented athlete, with a passion for video production and “the best sense of humor.”

Monday, Catalano sent a message to parents addressing the heartbreak the student body is grappling with in the wake of the shooting. She is also allowing Scott’s distraught classmates to be let out of class early on Tuesday in order to meet with grief counselors.

READ MORE: Chicago student killed walking home after school reportedly turned him away

Surveillance video footage of the parking lot shows the Scott running to the entrance of the store and placing his hand on the door handle before falling to the ground, while glass explodes and shatters all around him.

The next day, City Councilman Trayon White Sr., posted a the minute-long Somerset Prep video that shows the young man answering questions about living in the nation’s capital.

“If you come visit, you should visit the White House,” her says with a big smile. At one point adding about himself, “I like to chill. I like to laugh. I like to joke around. Be coolin’.”

“We must lean on each other and wrap our arms around our precious children to keep them safe and loved,” Catalano wrote in her message to parents.

Police say an investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

A candlelight vigil in Scott’s honor is planned for June 8th.

READ MORE: Popular Morgan State University Choir member gunned down in Baltimore

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