A man was fatally shot and a woman was injured on New Year's Eve outside a gas station in Landover, Maryland.
Hours before the New Year's countdown, Prince George’s County police officers surrounded an Exxon gas station in the 7500 block of Landover Road, where someone opened fire about 8 p.m.
The man who died, 27-year-old Michael Shipman Jr., of Washington, D.C., was found shot inside a vehicle, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers also found a woman suffering from gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
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It wasn't immediately clear what led up to the shooting. Several evidence markers were set up in the parking lot as detectives worked to find a motive and suspect or suspects.
Workers inside the business said police were reviewing surveillance video.
The deadly shooting brings the number of homicides in the county to 114 in 2024, a slight drop from the year before, which had more than 119 homicides.
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"One homicide is too many, so you know families are grieving," Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz said.
"The stats of homicides being down, or we’re trying to drive them down, one at the start of the year starts the progress of one too many," Aziz said.
Aziz spoke with News4 earlier in 2024 about strategies, including the gun crimes unit, to address the homicide rates in Prince George's County.
"We’re going to try to continue to mitigate those with the help of the community, with some great police work and in joining with municipalities, interagency departments,” he said.
Both police and the Prince George’s County state’s attorney say collaboration helps to address both conviction and homicide closure rates.
"They are second to none when it comes to solving homicides," Prince George’s County state’s attorney Aisha Braveboy said. "And my homicide unit, headed bySherrie Waldrup, is second to none when it comes to prosecuting these cases. We work very well together."
Police say the homicide closure rate has also increased. In 2024, the agency closed 79% of homicide cases, compared to 71% the year before.
"We just want to make sure that we are doing everything that we can, our due diligence, to bring people to justice and bring resolutions to family who are affected by it,” Aziz told News4.
