Police arrested a 12-year-old suspect in a downtown D.C. attempted carjacking in which an alleged 13-year-old accomplice was shot and killed.
Vernard Toney Jr. died Sunday after he was shot on D Street NW, in the Penn Quarter area, the previous night. Police say an off-duty federal security officer shot Toney after he and another young person tried to carjack him.
One of the juveniles held his hand in his pocket as if he had a gun, police said, and then the officer opened fire. Toney was shot, and the other person ran.
The 12-year-old suspect has been charged with armed carjacking.
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Two sources familiar with the investigation say Toney was arrested in May in connection with a number of armed carjackings in Southeast D.C. He was 12 at the time. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened with the cases.
Toney was a seventh grader at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast D.C. He was smart, funny and talented, his principal said in a letter to families.
Counseling services were offered to Toney’s classmates.
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As of Monday evening, no charges had been filed against the off-duty officer who opened fire.
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