Man who shot Karon Blake is a Washington, D.C., employee, mayor says

The man who fatally shot 13-year-old Karon Blake early Saturday, in a case that has outraged some in the community, is a Washington, D.C., employee, the mayor said Wednesday.

Metropolitan Police have said the shooter killed Karon, a middle school student, shortly before 4 a.m. after the shooter believed someone was tampering with vehicles and left his home with a registered firearm to investigate.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday that the person who shot Karon is a district government employee who is not involved in public safety.

Bowser did not name the agency. She said the person is on administrative leave, which is standard whenever a city employee is accused or criminally charged.

“It’s a horrible situation,” Bowser said. “We have a 13-year-old that died, and we don’t have all of the facts. And the people who are responsible for gathering the facts and making charging decisions are doing it just as fast as possible.”

The person has not been publicly identified or charged.

Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said Tuesday that the case is under active investigation and that police are working closely with the U.S. attorney’s office for possible charges. He said the case would go to a grand jury.

Police have said that after the man went out of the residence to investigate possible vehicle tampering, “there was an interaction between a juvenile male and the male resident” and the man fired the weapon, striking Karon.

At a community meeting Tuesday, members of the child's family said they want justice, and other residents called for the man to be apprehended.

Contee tried Tuesday to dispel what he said was misinformation circulating online, especially posts with images of uninvolved and innocent people.

“People are making allegations centered around race — and that is wrong,” Contee said.

Karon was Black. The man who shot him is Black and has a concealed-carry license and a registered firearm, Contee said. He is not a current or former law enforcement, Contee said.

The man called 911 and was performing CPR when officers arrived, Contee said.

Contee said Tuesday that for shootings to be justified, people have to be in fear for their lives or the lives of others.

“Those are the facts that we have to sift through to figure out, hey, did that happen? And based upon the information that we have, present that information to a grand jury to see if that is reasonable,” he said.